Current Employment Position(s)

Partner

Lawyer Overview

Michelle Wilcox DeBarge is a partner in Wiggin and Dana's Health Care Department. She chairs the Research Regulation and Compliance Practice Group and Hospital Practice Group. She is also a member of the firm's Biotechnology and Life Sciences, Health Information Technology and HIPAA Practice Groups.

Michelle advises health care providers, health care and research organizations, and research sponsors on a broad range of regulatory matters, including health care licensure and operations, research regulation and compliance, HIPAA, fraud and abuse, Medicare and Medicaid compliance, reimbursement, managed care, and patient care matters. Michelle lectures frequently on both the state and national level. She is a co-author of the "HIPAA Handbook: Implementing the Federal Privacy Rule in a Long-Term Care Setting," published by The American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging and is the author of "HIV-infected Physicians: The Duty to Disclose Under the Informed Consent Doctrine," published in the University of Connecticut Law Review.

Before practicing law, Michelle was a program director with the American Cancer Society, where she worked with physicians, nurses, and other health professionals to implement rehabilitation and educational programs for cancer patients, health professionals, and the general public. Before joining Wiggin and Dana, she also supervised the communications program of a community-based health and social service agency.

Michelle serves on the University of Connecticut Health Center Institutional Review Board and is a member of the Applied Research Ethics National Association, the American Health Lawyers Association, and the Health Care Compliance Association. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the Connecticut Health Lawyers Association. Michelle is listed in The Best Lawyers in America in the category of best health care lawyers (for more about the standards for inclusion in Best Lawyers in America, please see http://www.bestlawyers.com/ news/default.aspx) .

Michelle received her J.D. magna cum laude in 1993 from the University of Connecticut School of Law where she was Editor-in-Chief of the University of Connecticut Law Review. She received a B.A. from Williams College in 1987 and studied abroad at the University of Kent in Canterbury, England from 1985-1986.

Areas of Practice

• Health Care
• Biotechnology & Life Sciences
• Clinical Research Regulation and Compliance
• Health Information Technology
• HIPAA

West Practice Categories

Health & Health Care Law, Biotechnology, Life & Health, Regulatory Enforcement, Y2K Compliance, Science & Technology Law, Government Agencies & Programs

Bar Admissions

• Connecticut, 1993

Professional Associations and Memberships

• American Health Lawyers Association
• Applied Research Ethics National Association
• Connecticut Bar Association
• Connecticut Health Lawyers Association
• Health Care Compliance Association

Classes and Seminars

• "Tips, Traps, and Trends in Informed Consent and Secondary Research," ACI National Conference on Managing Risks in Structuring and Conducting Clinical Trials, September 26, 2007 - Present
• "Electronic Records and IT: Update on Stark, Anti-Kickback, and E-discovery Issues," 2007 CHA Corporate Compliance Conference, April 19, 2007 - Present
• “Clinical Research Billing Compliance,” New England Healthcare Internal Auditors Spring Conference, April 27, 2006 - Present
• Legal Considerations in Investigator-Initiated Studies”, Center for Business Intelligence, March 27, 2006 - Present
• “Perspectives and Practical Approaches to Corporate Compliance: Clinical Research Auditing and Compliance”, Connecticut Hospital Association, June 21, 2005 - Present
• "HIPAA Security Compliance”, Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce Health Care Council, February 24, 2005 - Present
• "HIPAA: Overview and Impact,” Connecticut Bar Association, Elder Law Section, April 20, 2004 - Present
• "EMTALA Perspectives”, Healthcare Financial Management Association and Connecticut Health Lawyers Association, February 24, 2004 - Present
• "HIPAA Overview and Impact, Access of Law Enforcement Officials to Protected Health Information”, Connecticut State Prosecutors, February 19, 2003 - Present
• "HIPAA Implementation for Long-Term Care Providers: The Time is Now”, New Jersey Hospital Association, February 11, 2003 - Present
• HIPAA Audio Conferences - HIPAA "Boot Camp", American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging, February 6, 2003 - April 3, 2003
• "HIPAA Implementation: Challenges and Solutions,” American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging, 2002 Annual Meeting
• “Auditing Research and IRB Activities”, New England Healthcare Internal Auditors Spring Conference, April 24, 2002 - Present
• "Getting a Handle on HIPAA: Focus on Long Term Care”, New Jersey Hospital Association, February 26, 2002 - Present
• “Getting a Handle on HIPAA,” American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging, 2001 Annual Meeting

Education

• University of Connecticut School of Law, Hartford, Connecticut, 1993
  J.D.
  Honors: magna cum laude
  
  Law Review: Member & Editor-in-Chief, University of Connecticut Law Review, 1991 - 1993
• Williams College, Williamstown, MA, 1987
  B.A.

Published Works

• CMS's Question: To Revise Or Not To Revise, Health Law 360, January, 2008
• FDA Amendments Act of 2007 Significantly Expands Clinical Trials Registry: December 26, 2007 Deadline for Registering and/or Updating Clinical Trial Information, Wiggin and Dana Client Alert, December, 2007
• Research Compliance Q&A: Investigator-Initiated Clinical Research Studies, Association of Healthcare Internal Auditors, New Perspectives, Summer, 2006
• Research Compliance Q&A: Focus on The Office of the Inspector General's Draft Model Compliance for Recipients of PHS Research Awards, Association of Healthcare Internal Auditors, New Perspectives, Spring, 2006
• Research Compliance Q & A Focus on HIPAA, Association of Healthcare Internal Auditors,” New Perspectives, Winter, 2006
• OIG Issues Draft Compliance Guidance for Recipients of PHS Research Awards Source, Health Care Compliance Association, Compliance Today, January, 2006
• Managing and Auditing Conflicts of Interest in Clinical Research, Association of Healthcare Internal Auditors, New Perspectives, Fall, 2005
• Fraud and Abuse in Clinical Research: Potential Pitfalls and Practical Measures for Avoiding Them, Association of Healthcare Internal Auditors, New Perspectives, Spring, 2005
• Connecting Research and Compliance: Developing a Research Compliance Program, Association of Healthcare Internal Auditors, New Perspectives, Winter, 2005
• “HIPAA Handbook: Implementing the Federal Privacy Rule in a Long-Term Care Setting, American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging
• HIV-Infected Physicians: The Duty to Disclose Under the Informed Consent Doctrine, University of Connecticut Law Review

Address

One CityPlace
185 Asylum Street
Hartford, CT 06103-3402

Phones

(860) 297-3702

Faxes

(860) 525-9380

Emails

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Websites

http://www.wiggin.com