He is a national chairman of an ethics and professional policy committee of the American College of Medical Quality, a member of their board of trustees, a practicing emergency medicine physician, and has been instrumental in the drafting and adoption of national standards in medical quality management.

He has extensive defense and plaintiff medical-legal experience regarding medical bad-faith and provider fraud issues. He has consulted and lectured for medical malpractice insurance companies regarding managed care systems and their impact on physicians’ performances and the liability issues involved. He was a plaintiff expert witness in the landmark Wilson vs. Blue Cross of California case, which involved medical insurance and utilization review responsibility and liability in a patient’s bad outcome.

He has consulted with the State of California regarding workers’ compensation reform and the State’s medical quality and utilization management regulations covering this area. He was instrumental in advising and formulating the Certification Standards for the new Health Care Organizations (HCOs) for the Division of Workers’ Compensation. He has advised the State regarding the enforcement, management and oversight of these new oversight review systems and is also special consultant for the Department of Corporations which regulates Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs). He is a medical consultant/reviewer for the California Medical Board, physician expert reviewer for the State Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) and has been a special consultant on HMOs for the California Department of Managed Health Care.

He has more than ten years of experience consulting for both private utilization review organizations and the providers of medical care regarding justifiable, accountable, defensible and documented medical decision making.

He lectures nationally to The Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA), The Defense Research Institute (DRI) and The National Judicial College among others on various issues such as appropriate development and implementation of practice parameters/guidelines, physician credentialing/profiling issues/report carding, medical necessity and benefit determinations, and standards of care. He brings ethics, clarity and practicality to medical decision-making and the interacting oversight review systems which ultimately produce quality medical care delivered in an efficient and cost-effective manner.

He is a board certified physician in emergency medicine and continues to practice in Southern California. He was national sub-committee chair on economic credentialing for the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) and was a contributing author on managed care in ACEP’s book Emergency Medicine Risk Management. He has sat on his hospitals’ quality assurance and utilization review committees and brings a balanced, common sense and practical approach to problem solving and system development.

Areas of Expertise:
Emergency Medicine
Hospital Liability
Utilization Review
Risk Management
Pre-Hospital Care
Medical Insurance
Reimbursement/Bad Faith
Quality Assurance
HMO/Managed Care Liability
Elder Abuse
Experimental/ Investigational
Credentialling
Ethics
EMTALA
EMS
Paramedics

Board Certification:
Emergency Medicine
Quality Assurance and Utilization Review

Professional Membership:

Fellow, American College of Emergency Physicians
Distinguished Fellow, American College of Medical Quality
Diplomat, American Board of Quality Assurance and Utilization Review Physicians
Member, Board of Trustees, American College of Medical Quality
Chairperson, a national ethics & professional policy
Committee member, American College of Medical Quality

Expert/Consulting:
Medical Insurance Companies
Utilization Review Organizations
Paramedic and Nurse Liability
State's Managed Care
Workers' Compensation & PRO Organizations
Hospital Quality Management Consultant
Reimbursements Issues Merit Evaluations Depositions & Trial Testimony

Fee Schedule:
Designation Fee: $1000.00
Retainer Fee: depending on initial case
Non-Testimonial: $500.00/hr
Testimonial: $600.00/hr- 3hr minimum; thereafter, $600.00 or any part thereof
Travel Policy: $250.00/hr- pays for time as well as expenses, i.e. hotel, taxi, airfare, etc.
Misc: Not charged for 8hrs sleep time if testifying out of town