Associate General Counsel – Regulatory Affairs and Compliance

vumc.org; Nashville (TN); Remote; USD 210,000 - 270,000; Full time

Job summary

Vanderbilt Health is conducting a national search for an Associate General Counsel – Regulatory Affairs and Compliance. This role provides strategic legal counsel to support the organization’s academic medical center, hospitals, and affiliated health entities on complex regulatory matters.

You will collaborate with executive leadership, compliance, clinical enterprise, and risk management to navigate Stark/Anti-Kickback, False Claims Act, CMS quality reporting programs, and value-based care

Qualifications

• JD from ABA-accredited law school.
• Admission to Tennessee Bar within 12 months of employment.
• Experience advising on Stark, Anti-Kickback, False Claims Act.
• Experience with CINs and ACOs preferred.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic legal counsel on healthcare regulatory compliance.
• Advise executive leadership on Stark, AKS, MACRA/MIPS, CMS requirements.
• Collaborate with compliance, risk, and clinical leadership to manage regulatory risk.
• Support ambulance operations regulatory matters and payer rules.

Skills

Healthcare law

Regulatory compliance

Legal counsel

Stark Law

Education

Juris Doctor (JD)

Tennessee bar admission within 12 months

Job description

Discover Vanderbilt Health: With eight hospitals and over 180 clinics, we are the region’s largest comprehensive academic health system. Vanderbilt Health has a long tradition of providing world‑class care to the people of the Mid‑South, living out our mission of moving medicine forward through preeminent programs in patient care, education and research. Here you’ll find a spirit of collaboration and a supportive community where your expertise is valued, your knowledge expanded and your uniqueness celebrated. We are committed to fostering an environment where talented, compassionate people are united in bringing the most advanced care to our neighbors throughout the region. Organization: OLA (Legal Affairs) 10

Job Summary: The Vanderbilt Health Executive Search Team is conducting a national search for an Associate General Counsel – Regulatory Affairs and Compliance. The Associate General Counsel – Regulatory Affairs and Compliance provides a broad range of legal support to Vanderbilt Health’s operations serves as a key legal advisor supporting the academic medical center, regional hospitals, and affiliated healthcare entities. This attorney provides strategic and practical legal counsel regarding healthcare regulatory compliance, physician relationships, quality and value‑based care initiatives, conflicts of interest, and clinically integrated network (CIN) operations. The position works closely with executive leadership, compliance, clinical enterprise, population health, quality, and operational stakeholders to manage legal and regulatory risk while advancing the organization’s clinical, academic, and strategic objectives. This role is responsible for collaborating with Vanderbilt Health departments and divisions, delivering timely legal guidance advising on compliance matters that impact Vanderbilt Health, and for collaborating as an active and engaged team member in support of the Office of Legal Affairs. The successful candidate will be a strategic thinker, an approachable adviser, and a collaborative relationship‑builder who thrives in an intellectually challenging environment and demonstrates alignment with Vanderbilt Health’s values.

Shift: First Shift; Remote

General Responsibilities

Provide legal analysis and counsel on state and federal and compliance rules and regulations, including, without limitation, Physician Self‑Referral Law (Stark), Anti‑kickback Statute, Civil Monetary Penalties law, False Claims Act, Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement requirements. Provide support for healthcare reporting programs, including hospital inpatient and outpatient quality reporting, MACRA/MIPS and Alternative Pay models, other payor driven quality metrics. Provide advice on evolving federal and state regulatory requirements, interpret statutes, regulations and guidance impacting quality reporting obligations. Participate in compliance reviews, internal investigations, corrective action activities, and regulatory assessments. Provide support for conflict‑of‑interest disclosure process including review, analysis and resolution of potential conflicts involving employed and community physicians to ensure compliance with applicable regulatory requirements and organizational policies. Collaborate with compliance department to provide advice on federal and state regulatory requirements impacting Advanced Practice Providers including state licensing board, including compliance risks related to expired or inadequate licensure, scope of practice misalignment, improper supervision, provide resolution strategies, including corrective action plans and collaborate with other department attorneys to support investigations into potential licensure violations, support compliance department audits of APP licensure compliance. Provide regulatory guidance to Vanderbilt Health’s clinically integrated network and Accountable Care Organizations supporting value base care initiatives. Guidance includes advising on federal and state laws governing CINs and ACO models including clinical and financial network integration, legal structuring and governance of CINs and ACOs, care management and shared savings distribution models, assess contracts for compliance with fraud and abuse laws, FMV, and commercial reasonableness. Provide legal counsel and compliance oversight for Vanderbilt Health’s ambulance operations, including both ground and air ambulance services, including advising on Medicare and Medicaid ambulance coverage and reimbursement rules, proper billing practice for ambulance services and coordinating with outside counsel resources as needed to support the work, including oversight of air ambulance services. Provided legal and regulatory guidance on revenue cycle operations, including patient billing, coding, documentation, charge capture, reimbursement, and collections, to support compliance with federal and state healthcare laws. Such other matters as requested by General Counsel and Managing Counsel Participate as requested in support of Office of Legal Affairs initiatives. Participate in the on‑call rotation for night and weekend OLA call coverage.

Qualifications

JD degree from an ABA accredited law school. Employment contingent upon State of Tennessee licensure or registration and receipt of In‑House Counsel Practice Certificate. The successful candidate must also apply for and become licensed in the State of Tennessee within 12 months of employment or, if earlier, the date required under applicable rules of the Tennessee Supreme Court.

Preferred Qualifications

Ten (10) or more years of progressively responsible legal experience related to healthcare compliance. Experience within an academic medical center or large health system preferred. Demonstrated ability to advise leadership on sophisticated, time‑sensitive healthcare matters. Strong ability to identify, assess, and mitigate legal risks associated with healthcare matters. Exceptional interpersonal and communication skills, including negotiation and the ability to educate non‑legal stakeholders. Demonstrated ability to build trust and credibility with clinical faculty, staff, administrators, and senior leadership. Proven commitment to confidentiality, discretion, and high ethical standards. Ability to stay current with evolving laws, regulations, and enforcement trends. Experience facilitating policy review, development, and institutional adoption. Ability to effectively represent institutional interests internally and externally. #LI-JC1

Our professional administrative functions include critical supporting roles in information technology and informatics, finance, administration, legal and community affairs, human resources, communications and marketing, development, facilities, and many more. At our growing health system, we support each other and encourage excellence among all who are part of our workforce. High‑achieving employees stay at Vanderbilt Health for professional growth, appreciation of benefits, and a sense of community and purpose.

Core Accountabilities

• Organizational Impact: Implements strategies for a sub function with direct impact to the function results.
• Problem Solving/ Complexity of work: Resolves highly complex business issues that are often unprecedented that have immediate impact on own sub‑function or entity and wider implications to the organization.
• Breadth of Knowledge: Applies expertise within professional/technical area and uses advanced business knowledge to develop objectives.
• Team Interaction: Leads a sub‑function serving the organization at large or across one or more entity(s).

Core Capabilities

• Supporting Colleagues:
  • Develops Self and Others: Acts upon constructive feedback from all levels of the organization and initiates strategies to develop talent in others.
  • Builds and Maintains Relationships: Leverages relationships and insight to forecast potential future needs and influence delivery of work to exceed expectations.
  • Communicates Effectively: Anticipates difference audience concerns, styles and finds mutually beneficial solutions across conflicting and sensitive issues.
• Delivering Excellent Services:
  • Serves Others with Compassion: Demonstrates in‑depth knowledge of broad‑based issues and considers the interests of others to improve satisfaction of services.
  • Solves Complex Problems: Critically evaluates complex information and identifies trends/risks to make recommendations to improve processes across areas.
  • Offers Meaningful Advice and Support: Provides ongoing feedback and development discussions to motivate and support team members to maximize performance.
• Ensuring High Quality:
  • Performs Excellent Work: Anticipates problems or obstacles which may interfere with quality standards and develops plants to ensure area's quality standards are met.
  • Ensures Continuous Improvement: Routinely draws upon valuable learning from others, past experiences, and new information to determine key opportunities.
  • Fulfills Safety and Regulatory Requirements: Develops appropriate corrective actions for unsafe environments in order to ensure operational and safety compliance.
• Managing Resources Effectively:
  • Demonstrates Accountability: Identifies potential obstacles to goal achievement and develops solutions to address those obstacles.
  • Stewards Organizational Resources: Creates the appropriate systems and processes to effectively manage resources.
  • Makes Data Driven Decisions: Applies in-depth knowledge of data to recommend and implement new approaches to improve decision making capabilities.
• Fostering Innovation:
  • Generates New Ideas: Identifies opportunities and leads development of new initiatives that create value across areas.
  • Applies Technology: Creates the energy and drive for self/others to identify and leverage technology in new, innovative ways to drive greater efficiencies.
  • Adapts to Change: Anticipates the change process and clearly communicates impact on others/own team(s), assisting them in embracing the change.

Position Qualifications

• Responsibilities:
• Certifications:
• Work Experience:
• Experience Level:
• Education: Master's

This role offers the opportunity to make a meaningful impact within Vanderbilt Health, supported by a comprehensive benefits package which may include health, disability, retirement and/or wellness offerings to enhance your well‑being and professional growth. Vanderbilt Health is committed to fostering an environment where everyone has the chance to thrive and is committed to the principles of equal opportunity. EOE/Vets/Disabled. PEOPLE ARE AT THE HEART OF ALL WE DO. Great health care takes great people. We’re looking for like‑minded individuals driven to make a difference. We invite you to explore careers at Vanderbilt Health, where we value collaboration, embrace continuous learning and foster an environment where everyone can thrive. We’re the largest private employer in Middle Tennessee, with a growing team and an expanding footprint across towns and communities throughout the region. We employ more than 43,000 people who work in inpatient and outpatient clinical care, research and graduate medical education. Our employees also serve in critical supporting roles in administration, information technology and informatics, finance, legal and community affairs, communications and marketing, fundraising, groundskeeping and facilities, and many other departments.

Our growing academic health system has more than 2,100 licensed hospital beds at eight hospitals: Vanderbilt University Hospital Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital Vanderbilt Stallworth Rehabilitation Hospital Vanderbilt Bedford Hospital Vanderbilt Clarksville Hospital Vanderbilt Tullahoma-Harton Hospital Vanderbilt Wilson County Hospital

Vanderbilt Health is the Mid-South's largest provider of specialty care, with hundreds of outpatient clinic and surgical locations throughout the region, and Tennessee’s only National Cancer Institute‑designated Comprehensive Cancer Center for adults and children. We are one of the nation's busiest critical care centers, home to Middle Tennessee’s only Level 1 Trauma Center and Burn Center for adults and children, and Middle Tennessee’s only Level IV Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. We are the nation’s largest transplant center, and last year we performed the most heart transplants than any center worldwide. Vanderbilt Health is an epicenter for biomedical research, winning over $1 billion in annual research awards from government, industry, foundations and donors. We are also a national leader in medical training and education, with the largest clinical training center in the Mid‑South and the only training center in Tennessee for many adult and pediatric specialties. We’re honored to be consistently considered among the nation’s best hospitals for quality, safety and patient satisfaction. Three of our hospitals - Vanderbilt University Hospital, Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital and Vanderbilt Wilson County Hospital - have been awarded a Five‑Star Quality Rating from Medicare. We support each other and encourage excellence among every member of our workforce. High‑achieving employees stay at Vanderbilt Health for professional growth opportunities, competitive compensation and benefits, and a sense of community and purpose. Join us in advancing health care.

Our vision

The world leader in advancing personalized health

Our mission

Personalizing the patient experience through our caring spirit and distinctive capabilities