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W. Kyle Simonton

MEMBER

Bio

W. Kyle Simonton joined the firm as an associate in 2007 and became a partner in 2013. He focuses his practice in the area of health care operations law. Kyle represents hospitals and health systems throughout the United States, advising various medical staffs and hospital leaders on operational issues including peer review, credentialing, practitioner discipline and corrective action, practitioner wellness issues, avoiding and addressing behaviors that undermine a culture of safety, fair hearing procedures, maintaining peer review immunity and confidentiality, National Practitioner Data Bank and State Agency reporting, HIPAA compliance, EMTALA compliance and plans of correction, CMS and Accreditation Body compliance, board and medical staff bylaws, Anti-Kickback Statute/Stark compliance and various contractual issues. He routinely presents educational seminars for hospital boards and medical staffs as well as hospital and legal associations. Kyle is currently a member of the American Bar Association, Health Law Section; the Tennessee Bar Association, Health Law Section; the Williamson County Bar Association; the American Health Lawyers Association; the American College of Legal Medicine; and the American College of Healthcare Executives. He is a 2007 graduate of Southern Illinois University School of Law where he was a member of the National Scholars Honor Society and was a student contributor and editor for the Journal of Legal Medicine and Legal Medicine Perspectives. In addition, he received the American College of Legal Medicine’s Letourneau Award for outstanding original commentary in legal medicine.

Profile

Areas of Practice

  • Health Care Law

Admissions

  • Tennessee Bar, 2007

Education

  • Southern Illinois University School of Law, Carbondale, IL, 2007, J.D.

  • East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, Tennessee, 2003, B.A.

Classes/Seminars Taught

  • Not Your Grandfather’s Hospital Medical Staff: The Transition from the Independent Provider Model, Nashville Council of Health Care Attorneys, 2024

  • Don’t Turn A Blind Eye: National Practitioner Data Bank and State Law Reporting, Nashville Council of Health Care Attorneys, 2023

  • Dr. Death:  Lessons for the Unwary Hospital Leader, Nashville Council of Health Care Attorneys, 2022

  • Physician Discipline Through the Hospital Medical Staff and Licensure Board Processes, Tennessee Bar Association Health Law Forum, 2021

  • The “New Normal”: Hospital Medical Staff Issues in a Post-Pandemic World, Nashville Council of Health Care Attorneys, 2021

  • Hospital Credentialing and Peer Review During a Pandemic: Challenges and Practical Solutions, Nashville Council of Health Care Attorneys, 2020

  • Health Care Facility Credentialing, Peer Review and Corrective Action, Alabama Association of Medical Staff Services Annual Meeting, 2019

  • Evolving Medical Staff Issues, Tennessee Bar Association Health Law Forum, 2019

  • Tightening the Screws - Recent Developments in National Practitioner Data Bank Reporting, Nashville Council of Health Care Attorneys, 2019

  • We’re Not in Kansas Anymore - The Evolving Hospital Medical Staff, Nashville Council of Health Care Attorneys, 2018

  • Roles and Responsibilities of the Governing Board: Addressing Board Member Issues and Disruptive Medical Staff Members, Quorum Learning Institute, 2018

  • Navigating the Medical Staff Hearing Process, Tennessee Bar Association Health Law
    Forum, 2014

  • Medical Staff Bylaws: Not Just a Place Marker on Your Shelf, Pennsylvania Association
    of Medical Staff Services, 2014

  • The New Frontier of Peer Review in Non-Hospital Settings, Nashville Council of Health Care Attorneys, 2013

  • The Hospital, the Board, and the Medical Staff: Who is the Client When Advising on 
    Medical Staff Issues, American Health Lawyers Association, 2010

  • Operational Ethics: Advising on Medical Staff Issues, Nashville Council of Health Care
    Attorneys, 2010

Published Works

  • The War on Specialty Hospital Competition: The August 2006 Expiration of the Moratorium on Specialty Hospitals has Accelerated the Already Heated Debate, American College of Legal Medicine 47th Annual Conference on Legal Medicine Syllabus, 2007

  • Problems with the Accommodations Granted to the Disabled during the Administration of the MCAT: Individual State Interests Versus National Uniformity, 27 J. Legal Med. 305, 2006

  • Daubert and the Standard of Care, Legal Medicine Perspectives, American College of Legal Medicine, May 2006

  • Substance Abuse as Mental Illness, Legal Medicine Perspectives, American College of Legal Medicine, March 2006

MEMBERSHIPS, HONORS

  • Recipient, American College of Legal Medicine’s Letourneau Award for outstanding original commentary in legal medicine.

  • Williamson County Bar Association

  • Tennessee Bar Association, Health Law Section

  • American Bar Association, Section on Health Law

  • American Health Lawyers Association

  • American College of Legal Medicine

  • American College of Healthcare Executives