PALTC23 Conference Recordings FR13 Lessons from Litigation: Avoiding Liability Pitfalls in PALTC

Lessons from Litigation: Avoiding Liability Pitfalls in PALTC

This session will build on previous popular presentations over the past 17 years by two experienced geriatrician/LTC physicians and medical directors with active consulting practices to the legal profession in both defense and plaintiff lawsuits that focus on PA/LTC litigation. This year will also include a focus on the recently expanding area of litigation involving assisted living facilities. The presenters will present an overview of the medical malpractice tort litigation process, then review the most common issues the presenters see in PA/LTC and AL litigation, and present cases from their files that illustrate deficient practices, safety precautions and care planning processes that in their view contributed to the facilities' litigation exposure, and yet are readily modifiable, with resultant reduction in litigation exposure. An experienced PA/LTC defense attorney will provide a legal perspective on each case. Q and A and group discussion to follow.

Learning Objectives:

At the completion of this session, learners will be able to:

  • Describe the process of and common areas of litigation encountered in PA/LTC and AL facilities.
  • Discuss ways medical directors, attending physicians, administrators and DONs can glean lessons from PA/LTC and AL litigation to implement risk reduction activities in their facilities and practices that can serve to lessen the chance of being involved in litigation.
  • Recognize and develop action plans for 'near miss' events, particularly involving resident safety measures, and implement follow-up interventions, to prevent liability with subsequent similar events involving adverse outcomes.
  • Describe the importance of updated care plans that reflect appropriate goals of care for nursing facility residents, particularly as their clinical condition changes over time, including accurate communication and prognostication involving residents nearing the end of life, in reducing the chance of litigation involving these residents.

Alan Horowitz, Esq., RN

Alan Horowitz, Esq., RN, is of counsel in the Healthcare practice and a member of the Post-Acute & Long-Term Care team at Arnall Golden Gregory LLP.. He is an innovative healthcare lawyer handling complex regulatory issues concerning Medicare providers such as skilled nursing facilities. Alan serves as vice chair of education for AHLA's Post-Acute and Long-Term Care practice group. Alan also held clinical, faculty and management positions at major medical centers where he utilized his background as a registered respiratory therapist and registered nurse. Alan served as Assistant Regional Counsel at the United States Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the General Counsel. He worked closely with and litigated cases for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) before the HHS Departmental Appeal Board and the federal courts involving enforcement actions taken by CMS. Currently, as counsel to providers, Alan has successfully negotiated and litigated significant cases against CMS. Alan was the Acting Director of ECRI Institute’s National Center for Independent Medical Review and also served as the Director of Clinical and Legal Affairs for the Institute for Safe Medication Practices. Alan also served as in-house counsel and program director for the pilot SNF-based ventilator-dependent program in New Jersey. Alan has co-authored and co-edited the AHLA publication, Post-Acute Care Handbook: Regulatory, Risk and Compliance Issues as well as having written dozens of articles regarding various aspects of health law. Additionally, Alan has been a frequent presenter at national and state forums on topics regarding health law.

Randall Huss, MD, CMD

Randall Huss, MD, CMD, is a board-certified geriatrician and PA/LTC physician with Mercy Clinic in Rolla MO. He has served as medical director of several nursing facilities over the past 38 years. He is founder and past president of Missouri Association of Long-Term Care Practitioners, AMDA's state chapter, and past AMDA House of Delegates Chair and Board member. He has had an active consulting practice to the legal profession in PA/LTC and geriatric litigation for over 20 years, consulting on both defense and plaintiff's cases.

David Smith, MD, CMD-R

David Smith, MD, CMD-R, is a recently retired solo practice PA/LTC physician and consulting geriatrician as well as long time nursing facility medical director in central Texas. He has had a consulting practice in PALTC litigation for both defense and plaintiff attorneys for over 20 years. Dr. Smith is past president of AMDA.

  • 1.75 CME
  • 1.75 CMD Management
  • 1.75 MOC

Release Date: 03/29/2023   |   Expiration: 03/01/2026

Credit Statements:

Accreditation: Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medical Association is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians. 

CME Designation: Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medical Association designates this enduring material for a maximum of 1.75 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

CMD Credit Hours: This CME activity has been pre-approved by the American Board of Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine (ABPLM) for up to 1.75 management hour(s) toward certification or recertification as a Certified Medical Director (CMD) in post-acute and long-term care medicine. Each physician should claim only those hours of credit actually spent on the activity.

The CMD Program is administered by the ABPLM. For further information, contact ABPLM at 410-992-3117 or at cmd@paltmed.org.

ABIM Maintenance of Certification (MOC): Successful completion of this CME activity, which includes participation in the evaluation component, enables the participant to earn up to 1.75 Medical Knowledge MOC points and patient safety credit in the American Board of Internal Medicine’s (ABIM) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program.

Participants will earn MOC points equivalent to the amount of CME credits claimed for the activity. It is the CME activity provider’s responsibility to submit participant completion information to ACCME for the purpose of granting ABIM MOC credit.

Financial Disclosure Statement:

The Association requires the disclosure of all speaker/faculty/planner’s relevant financial relationships; presence of off-label use of a device or medication; and discussion of any experimental, new or evolving topic prior to each accredited education activity.

If the learner perceives any bias toward a commercial product or service, advocation of unscientific approaches to diagnosis or therapy, or recommendation, treatment, or manners of practicing healthcare that are determined to have risks or dangers that outweigh the benefits or are known to be ineffective in the treatment of patients please report this to the Association's staff.


The following speaker(s) disclosed relevant financial relationship(s): 

  • Julie Gammack, MD, CMD (Planner & Speaker): Stockholder: Amarin
  • Kenya Rivas Velasquez, MD, CMD, FAAFP (Planner & Speaker): OptumRx: Stockholder
  • All other planners, speakers, and AMDA staff have no relationships with ineligible companies.

All relevant financial relationships have been identified and mitigated.

Components visible upon registration.