Health IT: Challenges and Opportunities

Michelle Wilcox DeBarge is a partner in Wiggin and Dana's Health Care Department. She chairs the Clinical Research Regulation and Compliance Practice Group, the HIPAA Practice Group, and the Health Information Technology Practice Group. She is also a member of the firm's Biotechnology and Life Sciences Practice Group. Michelle lectures frequently on both the state and national level.

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; Medicaid audits; research regulation and compliance; privacy and security of health information, including HIPAA; fraud and abuse; Medicare and Medicaid compliance; and patient care matters.

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. 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 and on the Legal and Policy Subcommittee of the Connecticut Health Information Technology and Exchange Advisory Committee.

Paul Hughes is Chair of the Wiggin and Dana's Corporate Practice Department and also practices in the Health Care Department. He is experienced with the representation and operation of both mature and emerging growth companies in a variety of industries including energy and utilities, information technology, clean technology, telecommunications, biotechnology, health care services, manufacturing and outsourcing. Paul regularly represents clients in the areas of debt and equity financings, mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures, strategic alliances, and corporate governance.

Paul has served as Vice President and General Counsel of a venture capital-backed pediatric health care services company, and its pediatric clinical trials network. He was active in all aspects of business development, corporate strategy and operations and was responsible for all of the companies' legal affairs, including equity and debt financing transactions, mergers and acquisitions, strategic alliances, licensing, real estate leasing, and contract negotiations.

James Staten is Executive VP, Corporate and Financial Services, YNHHS CFO and Senior VP for Finance, Yale-New Haven Hospital. He is a certified public accountant (CPA) and received a Bachelor of Science degree in business/economics from the State University of New York in Oneonta. Prior to joining the system in 2000, Mr. Staten was a senior vice president in charge of finance for New York Presbyterian Hospital and New York's largest health care system, New York Presbyterian Health Care System. Previously, he served as Ernst & Young's director of New York State Reimbursement Consulting Services and was a partner with Pannell Kerr Forster in the firm's health care management consulting and auditing practices.

Matt Walton is a partner of Intersection, LLC headquartered in Westport, CT, and currently leads business development initiatives in the areas of healthcare and information technology. Mr. Walton has been responsible for Intersection’s efforts to develop and commercialize SAMI™ (“Smart Access to Medical Information) in conjunction with Yale New Haven Health System’s Bridgeport Hospital. Mr. Walton is the CEO of MyCare, LLC, the company created to bring SAMI to market. SAMI is the first real time health information technology using advanced faceted search to enhance quality, improve outcomes and increase patient and family engagement. Mr Walton is also a founder of Clinically Home, LLC which is the first company to successfully deliver acute medical care to patients at home using a remote central station, trained clinical personnel and networked bio-metric monitoring equipment with two-way tele-video communications.

Prior to Intersection, Mr. Walton led the efforts of STERIS Corporation (the largest global supplier of sterilization chemistries and services) as General Manager of the Defense and Industrial Group to diversify into new industries using advanced room and equipment sterilization technologies for healthcare, defense, food and beverage, and transportation. Mr. Walton served on the board of the Federal Aviation Administration’s Air Cabin Environmental Research Council. Mr. Walton has also served as chairman of the Emergency Interoperability Consortium, and chairman of the Emergency Interoperability Member Section of OASIS which develops global interoperability data standards. Mr. Walton presently serves on the Advisory Board of State of Connecticut’s CTech Incubator at the University of Bridgeport.
Wallrick Williams joined Galen Partners in 2010. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Williams worked in the Healthcare and Life Sciences group of Harris Williams & Co., where he worked on a variety of sell side advisory assignments. Prior to joining Harris Williams & Co., Mr. Williams worked in the Strategy and Operations group of Deloitte Consulting LLP. Mr. Williams graduated from Emory University with a B.A. in Economics.