Vanessa L. Smith

Biography:

Vanessa Smith is the coordinator of the firm's Appellate Practice Group. She practices primarily in the firm's Health Law Practice Group and also is a member of the Schools, Colleges and Universities Practice Group and Litigation/ADR Department.

Vanessa focuses her practice on representing health care providers, including hospitals, provider practice groups, managed care organizations and integrated delivery systems, in an array of regulatory, risk management, medical staff and litigation matters.

She regularly advises hospitals on all phases of physician disciplinary matters, corrective action, fair hearing and appellate review processes, as well as medical peer review confidentiality issues and provider privileging and credentialing issues. She advises hospitals, physicians and other licensed health care professionals concerning mandatory reporting obligations.

Her compliance-related experience includes assisting clients in the regular review and revision of hospital medical staff bylaws and rules and regulations to assure ongoing compliance with relevant law and standards of The Joint Commission. She also routinely advises hospitals making reports to, and responding to subpoenas and requests from, the Boards of Registration in Medicine and Nursing, and responding to subpoenas from third parties. She handles an array of issues related to graduate medical education programs, including compliance with Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education requirements and resident and fellow disciplinary action, as well as issues related to the conduct of human subjects research and the work of institutional review boards.

Additionally, Vanessa presents to lawyers and health care providers on topics including patient confidentiality and medical peer review issues. She has served as a member of the Massachusetts Bar Association's Health Law Section Council and as co-editor for the Health Law Section Review, and served as an adjunct professor in the Legal Studies Department of Bay Path College in Longmeadow, Mass.

Vanessa is a board member of the Springfield Public Forum and recently served on its 75th Anniversary Committee. She is also a member of the Development Council of Baystate Children's Hospital and serves as a volunteer with, and provides legal services to, several non-profit organizations in the Pioneer Valley. She also speaks fluent French.

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Related Professional Experience:

Vanessa served as a law clerk to the Honorable Rosemary S. Pooler, first at the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York and then at the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

She also served as a court attorney for the New York Court of Appeals. As an assistant corporation counsel for the city of Syracuse, N.Y., and as an assistant attorney general for the state of New York, she tried civil cases in state and federal court and briefed and argued appeals in state court.

Publications:

Author: "Stark Phase III Regulations Took Effect December 4, 2007 - Are You in Compliance?" Bulkley, Richardson and Gelinas, LLP: Health Law Bulletin (Winter 2008).

Author: "Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine Proposed Regulatory Changes," Bulkley, Richardson and Gelinas, LLP: Health Law Bulletin (Summer 2007).

Author:  "The Impact of HIPAA on Litigation Discovery:  Lessons from the First Cases," MBA Health Law Section Review, Vol. 7 No. 3 (2005).

Author: "New Case Raises Questions About Procedures For Review Of Privileged Records in Criminal Cases," Bulkley, Richardson and Gelinas, LLP: Health Law Bulletin (May 2004).

Author: "Health Care Proxy Agent's Authority to Commit a Principal to a Mental Health Facility," Bulkley, Richardson and Gelinas, LLP: Health Law Newsletter (January 2003).

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Representative Experience:

Represented hospitals in medical peer review hearings to review physician disciplinary action.

Advised multiple hospitals regarding compliance with Massachusetts Department of Public Health essential health services regulatory process governing termination of delivery of services.

Represented hospital in internal review of suspected research misconduct.

Assisted in successful representation of suspended physician at medical staff fair hearing and in proceedings before Board of Registration in Medicine.

Represented nurse practitioner responding to complaint at Board of Registration of Nursing.

Assisted medical group in responding to HIPAA privacy complaint made to federal Office for Civil Rights.