Healthcare Litigation Support

Principal Contact: Ron Luke, JD, PhD,
rluke@rpcconsulting.com
512-371-8166

RPC has assisted health law attorneys, hospitals, nursing homes, home health agencies, physician practices, government agencies and other healthcare organizations in legal and administrative proceedings nationwide. Our areas of expertise include health planning, health finance and market research. RPC prepares studies for litigation support for general and specialty hospitals, nursing homes, managed care organizations and multi-specialty physician clinics.

Many of these studies have formed the basis for expert witness testimony before courts, administrative agencies and legislative committees. Dr. Luke has testified in federal and state courts on health care matters including anti-trust, billing fraud and abuse, medical staff credentialing and physician contracts. In the course of providing this testimony, Dr. Luke has been accepted as an expert witness in demography, economics, statistics, market research, socioeconomic impact analysis, health planning, land use planning and financial analysis.

Following are some examples of the kind of cases on which RPC has consulted:

• Determined the rate of payment to which healthcare facilities are entitled for services to worker's compensation patients under the Texas statute in the absence of a valid rule establishing a fee guideline.
• Determined the interest payments owed healthcare providers by an insurance carrier under rules of the Texas Worker's Compensation Commission.
• Established product and geographic market definition and demonstrated the defendant had market power that it was using to compel managed care plans to exclude a hospital from provider networks in a state anti-trust action.
• Established product and geographic market definition and demonstrated the defendant had market power to force employers to exclude a healthcare provider from their provider networks in a federal anti-trust action.
• Determined the damages to a physician group due to a hospital's breach of contract and fiduciary duties regarding a managed care joint venture.
• Determined the damages to physicians from loss of hospital privileges or closure of hospital-based programs.
• Determined the damages suffered by a psychiatric practice group due to unlawful conversion of a long-term psychiatric hospital to short-term programs.
• Assessed the damages to a neurosurgeon's income caused by a hospital management company's failure to fulfill its recruitment agreement.
• Evaluated the damages to a household from the loss of health insurance due to inappropriate business practices of an insurance company in managing risk pools.
• Determined the relevant market areas, market size and market shares for cardiology and cardiovascular surgery services for a defendant hospital in anti-trust litigation regarding medical staff privileges.
• Analyzed discrimination in payment of charges, the market area and the availability of competing hospitals for defendant insurance companies and hospital in anti-trust litigation.
• Determined the damages to third-party payers from improper billing practices of a revenue enhancement firm for the Texas Attorney General's Office.
• Determined the damages to a hospital from the breach of a non-competition agreement by the purchaser of a long-term psychiatric hospital.