Heather C. Skelton

Heather has devoted her career to advocating for medical practices, individual physicians, and those in the healthcare industry. Heather started in-house at a managed care organization. She then opened her own practice to assist healthcare providers who handle the day-to-day hassles of complex rules, regulations, and payment frustrations. For fourteen years, she built her practice from the ground up into a thriving business. Then, in 2013 she joined Nicole Gardner, creating the Gardner Skelton Law Firm. Joining the firm provided her and her clients a larger support team with expanded practice areas. Heather advises on a myriad of healthcare issues, including:

• Increasing commercial payor reimbursement
• Payor dispute appeals
• Practice start-ups
• HIPAA compliance plans, risk assessments, and training
• Compliance with state and federal healthcare laws, including Stark, Anti-Kickback, and the False Claims Act
• Corporate compliance plans, including OIG and Medicare compliance

• Physician employment agreements with a private practice or a healthcare system
• Managing employee legal issues in a medical practice
• Guidance regarding the Medical Board Position Statements
• Responding to patient complaints
• Contract drafting and/or negotiation of various transactional matters, including commercial leases, vendor contracts, and electronic health records license agreements