Melissa (Lisa) Thompson

Partner

  • Overview

    Biography

    Lisa Thompson advises companies, senior management, and boards of directors, with a focus on health care, life sciences, and technology. She is a member of the firm’s Health Law Group, Government Investigations, and Data Privacy + Cybersecurity Team. Lisa is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb). She serves on the Dispute Resolution Council of the American Health Law Association and is on their arbitration and mediation panels. She also serves on the American Arbitration Association's (AAA) Master Mediator Panel and is an international and domestic arbitrator on the AAA's Commercial, Life Sciences, and Health Care panels. She is a member of the advisory committee for the Boston International Arbitration Council (BIAC).

    Lisa has represented domestic and international clients in the health care, life sciences, and technology industries. Lisa handles a range of matters, including corporate law and commercial contracting, government audits, clinical research law, and matters involving Institutional Review Boards (IRBs). She has experience representing clients on issues involving privacy and security including HIPAA, reimbursement, Medicare and Medicaid, state and federal surveys and termination actions, managed care disputes, pharmacy and compounding laws, fraud and abuse, Stark Law, anti-kickback, and federal program exclusions.

    Lisa’s experience includes U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) compliance and regulatory matters, product recalls, FDA citizen petitions and appeals, medical device and pharmaceutical labeling review, advertising and marketing compliance, drug and medical device reimbursement, clinical research agreements, and commercial contracting. Her technology sector experience includes advising on privacy and security, software licensing, data use agreements, information exchange system agreements, and regulatory requirements.

    Lisa is an active arbitrator and mediator on the panel of the American Health Law Association and the Health Care, Life Sciences and Commercial panels of the American Arbitration Association. She formerly served in-house as chief counsel for an international medical device manufacturer, as general counsel for a pharmacy benefit management company, and as corporate, privacy, and research counsel for a major academic medical center. She is a contributor to the firm’s blog, Health Law Diagnosis.

    Administrative Appeals

    In addition to corporate and regulatory matters, Lisa handles administrative appeals for clients. Lisa has prevailed in consolidated reimbursement appeals cases before the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services administrative law judges. She has also obtained temporary restraining orders in U.S. District Court against CMS. She has successfully helped clients resolve matters through alternative dispute resolution, and negotiated settlements with the U.S. Department of Justice, the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG), the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on behalf of clients. Lisa also has prior experience with complex commercial litigation, product liability lawsuits, toxic torts and environmental litigation, class actions, shareholder suits, managed care issues, and insurance coverage disputes.

    Arbitration and Mediation

    Lisa provides mediation and arbitration services, both as an advocate and as a neutral. She is an arbitrator and Master Mediator with the American Arbitration Association, serving on its Life Sciences Panel, Commercial Panel, and National Healthcare Panel, and arbitrates and mediates with the American Health Law Association. She has also provided arbitration services for consultants preparing clients for arbitration. Lisa is on the advisory board of the Boston International Arbitration Council (BIAC) and on the Dispute Resolution Council for the American Health Law Association. Lisa is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. Her matters have included: 

    •    International and domestic arbitrations
    •    Life sciences arbitrations
    •    Health care arbitrations
    •    Commercial contract disputes
    •    Federal and state government party mediations
    •    Licensing and product development
    •    Managed care arbitration between plans and providers
    •    Intellectual property and technology
    •    Product liability claims
    •    Real estate and franchise matters
    •    Partnership, employment, non-compete, and recruitment agreements
    •    Insurance coverage disputes
  • Experience
    • Experience

      Experience

      • Handled and prevailed in individual and in consolidated reimbursement appeals cases before administrative law judges for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, for national hospice provider.

      • Investigated and filed PSR (Stark law) and excluded individual self disclosures with CMS and the Office of Inspector General (OIG) on behalf of clients.

      • Negotiated settlements with the U.S. Department of Justice, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and state Medicaid in termination and enrollment actions.

      • Advised on disclosures and settlements with the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) in matters involving exclusions.

      • Obtained temporary restraining orders in federal court in hospital Medicare termination actions on behalf of a national health care company with acute care and psychiatric hospitals.

      • Handled HIPAA investigations, and provided advice regarding potential HIPAA breaches, with the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) for hospitals, physician practices, and home care companies.

      • Negotiated favorable settlement of a criminal and civil action with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on behalf of an international medical device manufacturer involving allegations of violations of Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP).

      • Served as arbitrator in numerous domestic and international arbitrations in life sciences and health care industries.

    • Professional Associations

      Professional Associations

      Chartered Institute of Arbitrators
      Fellow

      American Arbitration Association
      Commercial Arbitration Panel
      National Health Care Arbitration Panel and Life Sciences Panel
      AAA Master Mediator Panel
      Life Sciences Advisory Committee (2019 - 2021)

      American Health Law Association
      Dispute Resolution Services Council Member
      AHLA Arbitration and Mediation Panels

      Boston Bar Association
      Co-chair, Health Law Section (2019 - 2021)
      Steering Committee, Health Law Section (2018 - 2021)

      Boston International Arbitration Council (BIAC)
      Advisory Board Member
    • Honors + Awards

      Honors + Awards

      Admitted as a Fellow in the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb), 2022

      Recognized by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly as a 2022 “Massachusetts Go To Lawyer” in the area of Healthcare/Life Sciences.

    • Community Involvement

      Community Involvement

      Boston Bar Foundation Society of Fellows
      Member, Society of Fellows Committee (2018 - 2020)

      American Arbitration Association / International Centre for Dispute Resolution (AAA-ICDR) Foundation
      Chair's Circle and Founding Donor; Member, AAA Ambassadors for the AAA-ICDR Foundation (2019 - 2020)

      Go Red for Women, American Heart Association, Southern New England
      Executive Leadership Team (2016 - 2018)
  • NEWS + PRESS
    • Publications

      Publications

      "CMS Revises Process for Reporting Stark Law Violations," blog post from Health Law Diagnosis (4/4/2017)

      "21st Century Cures Act – Implications for Investigators and Research Sites," blog post from Health Law Diagnosis (2/15/2017)

      "Clearing Up Confusion Over the Modified HIPAA Privacy Rule," published in Information Counts (February 2016)

      "HIPAA and Text Messaging," published in Information Counts (November 2015)

      "Update on Fraud and Abuse, chapter in the Health Law Handbook," co-authored with C. Martin and published by Thomson Reuters (2011 and 2012)

      "Medicare Termination: How to Get out of the Frying Pan and Avoid the Fire," co-authored with Louise Joy, AHLA white paper (2011)

      "Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) Appeal Strategies," published in the American Health Law Association (AHLA) Regulation, Accreditation and Payment Practice Group RAP Sheet (June 2010)

      "Accreditation, Licensure, Certification, and Surveying Bodies, chapter in the Risk Management Handbook for Health Care Organizations," co-authored with R. Robinson and published by the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management (2010)

      "Medicare Termination: It Could Happen to You," co-authored with Dan Peterson, AHLA Connections (August 2009)

    • Presentations

      Presentations

      "Payor-Provider Contracting and Dispute Resolution," co-presented with Nathaniel T. Arden, webinar hosted by the Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association (MHA) (7/17/2023)
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      "AHLA Health Care Arbitration Training," as an instructor during the virtual, four-day Health Care Arbitration Training (12/5-8/2022)
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      "Life Science Arbitration Clauses: Drafting Trends and Options," a webinar discussion hosted by the American Arbitration Association. (9/23/2020)
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      "Data Management & Protection In A Public Health Emergency," which addressed health data privacy during the current pandemic, with a focus on how to protect the privacy of health data of COVID-19 patients from collection to commercialization. (6/18/2020)
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      "Telehealth During the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (and Beyond?)," which discussed Medicare telehealth coverage, waivers and policies, as well as private payor coverage and Massachusetts state policies on telehealth. (5/28/2020)
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      "Dispute Resolution in Managed Care and 'Breaking News' on the Just-Released CMS Stark Law and OIG Anti-kickback Proposed Rules - Implications for Managed Care," presented at the NIHCL Payor & Market Strategy Forum (10/18/2019)
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      "The Complexities of International & Domestic Life Sciences Disputes," moderator, as AAA-ICDR conference (10/2/2019)
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      "Data Sharing Across the Health Care Industry," presented as a panelist at the Boston Bar Association's Health Care Conference. (5/30/2019)
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      "The Complexities of International & Domestic Life Sciences Disputes," (May 1, 2019)
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      "Health Care Provider-Payor Dispute Resolution—Techniques and Strategies," faculty for Massachusetts Bar Association program in Boston, Massachusetts (9/25/2018)
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      "Data Governance: Essential Practices for Data Governance in Healthcare," Global Cyber Institute Webinar (6/11/2018)

      "Managing Dispute Risk in Business Agreements," presentation at the Massachusetts Bar Association (5/22/2018)

      "Arbitration: Important Things You Didn't Know You Didn't Know," Robinson+Cole Webinar (11/1/2017)
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      "Oversight of HIPAA Business Associates," webinar (9/7/2017)
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      "Cybersecurity for Medical Devices," panel presentation co-sponsored by Robinson+Cole, the Biomedical Engineering Alliance and Consortium (BEACON), and Court Square Group (CSG). (6/1/2017)
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      "Self Disclosures: Navigating the OIG and CMS/Stark Law Self Disclosure Protocols," Annual Health Law Symposium, Massachusetts Bar Association (04/13/2017)

      "Navigating Voluntary Self-Disclosure Protocols," Robinson+Cole Webinar (4/19/2017)
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      "Arbitration in Long Term Care, the CMS Regs and their Aftermath," at the Massachusetts Bar Association (11/2016)

      "HIPAA Policies and Procedures for Business Associates," presented at the NNRC Meeting (June 2016)

      "HIPAA for Court Reporters," presented at the NNRC Meeting (June 2016)

      "Security Risk Analysis," presented to Medical Mutual physician insureds (June 2015 and October 2015)

      "Payment and Reimbursement," presented to the American Bar Association, Health Law Section (February 2014)

      "HIPAA Compliance Audits: Are you Prepared?" presented at the HIM Conference, HealthPort (July 2012)

      "Medicare and Medicaid Enrollment Under Heightened CMS Scrutiny, Best Practices to Obtain and Maintain Enrollment," presented via teleconference for Strafford Publications (April 2011)

      "Accountable Care Organizations," presented at Emerging Programs and Models for Medicare Care Management, Financial Research Associates in Orlando, Florida (February 2011)

    • News

      R+C in the News

      • May 10, 2023

        Lisa Thompson Reappointed to American Health Law Association Dispute Resolution Service Council

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      • June 1, 2022

        Melissa (Lisa) Thompson Recognized by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly as a “Go To” Life Science/Health Care Lawyer

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      • May 26, 2022

        Melissa (Lisa) Thompson Recognized as a Fellow in the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb)

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      • March 1, 2022

        Lisa Thompson Selected as American Arbitration Association Master Mediator

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      • November 18, 2019

        Lisa Thompson Invited to Join the Boston Bar Foundation's Society of Fellows Committee

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      • May 31, 2019

        Lisa Thompson Addresses Boston Bar Association's Health Care Conference

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      • May 15, 2019

        Lisa Thompson Presents on "The Complexities of International & Domestic Life Sciences Disputes," American Arbitration Association (May 1, 2019)

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      • February 8, 2019

        Boston Office Attends Annual John & Abigail Adams Benefit Ball

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      • September 26, 2018

        Lisa Thompson Presents MassBar Program on Health Care Provider-Payor Dispute Resolution

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      • September 15, 2017

        Lisa Thompson and Pam Del Negro Present Webinar on HIPAA

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      • June 7, 2017

        Robinson+Cole Sponsors Panel Discussion on Cybersecurity for Medical Devices

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      • May 5, 2017

        Health Law Group Lawyer Presents on Voluntary Self-Disclosure Protocols

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      R+C News Releases

      • September 19, 2019

        Lisa Thompson Appointed Co-chair of the Boston Bar Association Health Law Section

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