Lester W. Johnson, Jr. Associate—Baton Rouge Phone: 225.381.3176 Fax:225.381.8029 Email: les.johnson@bswllp.com

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Lester W. Johnson, Jr., “Les,” is an associate with offices in the firm’s Baton Rouge and New Orleans offices. Practicing in the healthcare section, Les helps clients navigate the myriad of regulatory, compliance and business issues facing today's healthcare providers and practitioners. Core areas of Les's practice include Medicare and Medicaid participation and compliance; Stark and Anti-kickback law compliance, state self-referral prohibitions, duty to treat requirements under EMTALA and any other regulatory issues a client may face. Les assists clients with operational and business issues involving hospital/medical staff relations, practitioner credentialing, health care contracting issues, mergers and acquisitions, antitrust hurdles, joint ventures, and practice formation and restructuring. He also has extensive experience handling Medicare & Medicaid audits and overpayment appeals, including both reimbursement (“cost report”) and claims appeals.

With 100% of his practice devoted to health care, Les represents health care providers of all shapes and sizes, including: hospitals, ASCs, specialty hospitals, outpatient clinics, IDTFs, medical staffs, physicians and other practitioners, group practices, ambulance providers, LTACHs, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, hospices, rehab centers, IPAs, PPOs, HMOs, and other managed care organizations.

Les is a frequent presenter on regulatory compliance, fraud & abuse, and business issues facing health care providers and practitioners, and was named a Health Care Hero by New Orleans CityBusiness Magazine. He was also recognized by the Gillis Long Poverty Law Center for his work to help open the Lower 9th Ward Health Clinic, a free clinic opened in early 2006 in New Orleans’s flood ravaged Lower 9th Ward.

Education

Beazley Institute for Health Law and Policy, Loyola University Chicago School of Law, LL.M., Corporate, Regulatory, and Transactional Health Law, 2006

Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, J.D., 2005

Louisiana State University, B.S., Finance/Investments, 2002

Professional Associations

Louisiana State Bar Association

Louisiana Society for Hospital Attorneys

American Bar Association

American Health Lawyers Association

Louisiana Hospital Association

Publications

Louisiana Hospital Association Impact Lawbrief-Physiaicn Quality Reporting Initiative Starts July 1, 2007. June 29, 2007

Louisiana Hospital Association Impact Lawbrief-Acara v. Banks Proves to be Useful Tool to Help Prevent Unnecessary HIPAA Litigation, November 30, 2006

About Management-About Healthcare-Economic Credentialing in the Wake of Baptist Health v. Murphy, November 2006

About Management-About Healthcare-Louisiana’s New Rural Provider-Focused Stark Law,  August 2006

Presentations

"Compliance Program Basics - Organizing and Managing Healthcare Compliance" - Louisiana Hospital Association - January 2010

“How to Survive a RAC Audit,” Louisiana Hospital Assoication, Advanced Compliance Seminar, September 14, 2009

"Expect the Unexpected: Preparing for Disasters," Healthcare Emergency Preparedness Response and Management - Surviving the Storm - A Legal and Operational Guide, New York, 11/2006

"Conflicts Credentialing and the Bottom Line," Beazley Institute for Health Law and Policy - LL.M. Thesis, 5/21/2006

Community Involvement

Lower 9th Ward Health Clinic, Board of Directors, 2006-2008