Overview
This role supports the General Counsel & Compliance Officer with corporate legal initiatives in the employee benefits and healthcare information privacy space. The Associate General Counsel provides guidance to senior management and helps manage the organization’s legal function, including complex business transactions and contract negotiation.
Key focus areas include assisting with policies and procedures related to privacy, access, and patient health information, ensuring alignment with federal and state laws, and supporting HIPAA-related obligations.
Responsibilities
- Participate in the definition and development of corporate policies, procedures, and programs, providing ongoing legal guidance on legal implications across business matters.
- Draft contracts and amendments based on templates provided by the General Counsel & Compliance Officer as needed for ongoing business operations.
- Assist in creating new contracts and templates for new business arrangements, programs, and offerings.
- Support contract edit requests across healthcare-related contract types, including non-disclosure agreements, services agreements, and data exchange agreements (e.g., Business Associate Agreements, Data Transfer & Confidentiality Agreements, etc.).
- Support legal/compliance activities to ensure business is conducted in compliance with applicable laws and regulations, including licensing of operating entities and state and federal reporting requirements.
- Coordinate with the legal/compliance team to ensure necessary contracts are prepared, sent to clients, and returned fully executed on a timely basis.
- Manage and track regulatory matters affecting the organization.
- Educate staff on regulatory matters and legislative changes; assist in creating client communications regarding state and federal regulation and legislation.
- Draft settlement agreements and negotiate settlement matters.
- Correspond with administrative and regulatory bodies and, as applicable, appear on the organization’s behalf during administrative proceedings.
- Support internal and external audits, including annual SOC audits.
- Assist in responding to and assessing reported HIPAA violations, including preparing and archiving required documentation.
- Work with legal/compliance teams, key departments, and committees to ensure appropriate privacy and confidentiality consent, authorization forms, and information notices/materials are in place and reflect current organization and legal practices.
- Oversee, direct, deliver, or ensure delivery of initial and privacy training and orientation to employees, volunteers, medical and professional staff, contractors, alliances, business associates, and other appropriate third parties.
- Participate in the development, implementation, and ongoing compliance monitoring of trading partner and business associate agreements to ensure privacy concerns, requirements, and responsibilities are addressed.
- Establish with management and operations a mechanism to track access to protected health information as required by law, enabling qualified individuals to review or receive a report on such activity.
- Establish and administer a process for receiving, documenting, tracking, investigating, and taking action on privacy-related complaints in coordination with other functions and, when necessary, legal counsel.
- Ensure compliance with privacy practices and consistent application of sanctions for failure to comply with privacy policies across the workforce and extended workforce, and for business associates, in cooperation with Human Resources, the information security officer, administration, and legal counsel as applicable.
- Review system-related information security plans throughout the organization to ensure alignment between security and privacy practices, serving as a liaison to the information systems department.
- Coordinate with personnel involved in any release of protected health information to ensure full compliance with organization policies/procedures and legal requirements.
- Maintain current knowledge of applicable federal and state privacy laws and accreditation standards; monitor advancements in information privacy technologies to support organizational adaptation and compliance.
- Serve as an information privacy consultant to the organization for all departments and appropriate entities.
- Perform other assigned projects and duties.
HIPAA and privacy compliance obligations
- Abide by all HIPAA obligations related to Protected Health Information (PHI).
- If a HIPAA violation is discovered (individually or by another), report the violation to the Compliance Officer and/or Human Resources.
- Attend, complete, and demonstrate competency in required HIPAA training.
Requirements
- Juris Doctor degree.
- Active license to practice law in the US (must be able to provide a Certificate of Good Standing, upon request).
- Knowledge and experience in information privacy laws, access, release of information, and release control technologies.
- Knowledge and experience in health information management.
- Proven experience as legal counsel in a business environment.
- Excellent knowledge and understanding of corporate law and procedures.
- Full comprehension of influences of the external environment of a corporation.
- Demonstrated ability to create legal defensive or proactive strategies.
- High degree of professional ethics and integrity.
- Sound judgment and ability to analyze situations and information.
- Outstanding communication skills.
Preferred Qualifications
- Healthcare law experience.
Compensation & Benefits
- Medical, Dental, Vision Insurance
- Disability and Life Insurance
- Employee Assistance Program
- Remote work options
- Generous Paid-Time Off
- Annual Reviews and Development Plans
- Retirement Plan with company match immediately 100% vested.
Location
Schedule & Travel
- Full-time, salary/exempt position.
- Some flexibility in hours is allowed, but the employee must be available during core work hours of 8:00AM to 5:00PM CT.
- Ability to work adjusted schedules to cover meetings in all time zones.
- Ability to work extended hours, weekends, and holidays pursuant with industry demands.
- Travel may be required as needed, up to 20%.