Professional Experience
Mr. Bernstein is a member of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP’s Board of Directors, is Chairman of the Healthcare Division, and is Administrative Partner of the New York office. Mr. Bernstein’s law practice concentrates on advising clients in the healthcare industry, including provider organizations, payor organizations, emerging companies and financial institutions. His practice also emphasizes strategic, business, transactional and regulatory matters.
Mr. Bernstein counsels numerous states, providers, companies and coalitions on healthcare information infrastructure and associated regulatory and financial considerations. He also speaks and writes extensively on emerging public policy issues in the health information technology field. He has assisted clients in raising billions of dollars of public-sector financing, ranging from innovative public-private ambulatory initiatives to cutting-edge funding for hospitals.
Mr. Bernstein has served as a law clerk to the Honorable Raymond J. Pettine, United States District Judge for the District of Rhode Island (1983), and as a staff member in the Office of Secretary Joseph A. Califano Jr., the United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare (1979).
Representative Matters
Counsel to Thinc RHIO Inc., Bronx RHIO Inc., Brooklyn Health Information Exchange, CareSpark and CalRHIO.
Counsel to Active Health Management, a leading provider of evidence-based clinical information and healthcare quality improvement solutions.
Project Director, New York State Health Information Privacy and Security Collaborative (2006-2007).
Counsel to New York City with respect to the creation of the NYC Primary Care Development Corporation, a public private partnership established to develop and finance primary care centers through New York City (1994-1995).
Counsel to the Coalition of Safety Net Hospitals with respect to the creation of the Secured Hospital Bond Program, a $2 billion New York State hospital construction and financing program (1985-1995).
Memberships & Activities
Admitted to practice in New York (1983) and before the United States Court of Appeals, First Circuit.
Member, Technical Advisory Panel, Vanderbilt Center for Better Health, 2005-2007.
Technical Advisor, Best Practices for State-Level RHIOs, American Health Information Management Association, 2006.
Advisor, New York State Stakeholders HIT Planning Group, convened by NYS Department of Health, 2006.
Director, Human Rights in China.
Member, American Health Lawyers Association.
Honors & Awards
International Best Lawyers, Chambers USA Guide, 2005-2008.
The Best Lawyers in America, 1991-2008.
New York Super Lawyers, 2006-2007.
Outstanding Healthcare Transaction Lawyers by Nightingale's Healthcare News, 2005.
Arthur Garfield Hays Civil Liberties Fellow, NYU School of Law, 1981-1982.
Alan Teitler Award for scholarship in the field of Law & Medicine, NYU School of Law, 1982.
Vanderbilt Medal for extraordinary contribution to the School of Law, NYU School of Law, 1982.
HEW Award for outstanding service, 1979.
Root Tilden Scholar, NYU School of Law, 1979-1982.
Publications
Contributor, “State Level Health Information Exchange: Roles in Ensuring Governance and Advancing Interoperability,” Preliminary 2007 Findings from State-level HIE Consensus Project, prepared for U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, September 28, 2007.
Co-Author, “Federal District Court Rules that New Hampshire's Broad Prohibition on Transfer and Use of Physician Prescribing Data Violates the First Amendment,” Privacy & Data Security Law Journal, August 2007.
Co-Author, “Health Information Exchange Projects: What Hospitals and Health Systems Need to Know,” American Hospital Association, April 2006.
Co-Author, “Through the Land of RHIOs,” Advance for Health Information Executives, March 2005.
Co-Author, “The New Healthcare Frontier: Navigating Through the Land of Regional Health Information Organizations,” Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP, December 2004.
Co-Author, “Improving America's Health Care System by Investing in Health Care Information Technology,” Health Affairs, July/August 2003.
Co-Author, “Spending Our Money Wisely: Improving America's Healthcare System by Investing in Healthcare Information Technology,” Health Technology Center, May 2003.
Author, “It’s Time to Fund Physician Shortage Programs by Abandoning Unrestricted State Subsidies to Medical Schools: Rethinking New York’s Budget Priorities,” Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law, 1983.
Speaking Engagements
Panelist, “Creating Public Trust in Having Their Health Information on the Net,” Connecting Americans with Their Health Care Conference, Hosted by The Markle Foundation, La Jolla, CA, December 2007.
Conference Chair, “Defining Key Health Information Technology Terms,” The National Alliance for Health Information Technology Network Conference, November 2007.
Keynote Speaker, “National Healthcare Policy and Health IT Implications for Employers,” ActiveHealth Client Advisory Group, New York, NY, November 2007.
Panelist, “State Level Health Information Exchange: Roles in Ensuring Governance and Advancing Interoperability,” Preliminary 2007 Findings from State-level HIE Consensus Project, eHealth Initiative Annual Meeting, October 12, 2007.
Facilitator, “Using Data Analytics to Improve Care and Transform Insurance Design: ActiveHealth's Vision,” California Healthcare Institute's California Healthcare Policy Forum, La Jolla, CA, August 2, 2007.
Panelist, “Recent Legal Decisions and their Implications,” Future Directions and Issues: Game Changers Panel, American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) Invitational Conference: National Framework for the Secondary Use of Health Data, Reston, VA, June 15, 2007.
Speaker, “Advancing Health Information Technology: Lessons from New York State and National Efforts,” Pennsylvania eHealth Initiative Strategic Planning Retreat, January 2007.
Speaker, “RHIOs: The Emerging Legal Issues,” The Healthcare Roundtable for Corporate Counsel, Carmel, CA, September 2006.
Speaker, “Regional Health Information Organizations (RHIOs),” Orange County Business Council (OCBC) Healthcare Task Force's Regular Meeting, Orange County, CA, September 2006.
Speaker, “Beyond Managing Care: Striving for Excellence,” New York State Department of Health Office of Managed Care Conference, Saratoga Springs, NY, May 2006.
Speaker, “Regional Health Information Organizations: Roles for Hospital Associations,” American Hospital Association State Issues Forum Meeting, Washington, D.C., April 2006.
Speaker, “Sustainable Funding Models for RHIOs,” Get Connected Knowledge Forum, Dallas, TX, June 2005.
Speaker, “Patient Safety and Health Information Technology: Making the Healthcare System Safer Through Implementation and Innovation,” Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality 2005 Annual Meeting: Washington, D.C., June 2005.
Panel Facilitator, “Giants Talking-Feds Listening: Turn the Call for Change into Actual Change,” Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (“HIMSS”) Summit: Achieving National Healthcare Transformation, New York, NY, June 2005.
Track Co-Chair, “Organizational and Legal Issues,” 2nd Annual Connecting Communities for Better Health Learning Forum, Washington, D.C., May 2005.
Speaker, “A Leading Forum on the Electronic Health Record and Rapidly Emerging Health Information Technology Policy,” The Health Information Technology Summit West, March 2005.
Keynote Speaker, “Emerging Health Information Technology Trends,” Health Data Management Solutions 2005 Client Conference, January 2005.
Expert Panel Member, “The Health Information Technology Audioconference: Strategic Responses to the GAO Report on Legal Barriers to the Adoption of Health Information Technology,” November 2004.
Expert Panel Member, “Promoting Adoption of Electronic Health Records: Incentives and Connectivity,” Connecting for Health, September 2004.
Panelist, "eHealth Initiative," First Annual Connecting Communities for Better Health Forum Exhibition, June 2004.
Moderator, “A Quality Strategy for New York’s Healthcare,” United Hospital Fund, Information Systems Session, June 2004.
Moderator, “Addressing Hospitals’ Financial Crisis,” First Annual Hudson Region Hospital Summit, May 2004.
Speaker, “Wired for Profits,” Managed Healthcare Industry Forum on Emerging Technology, April 2004.
Speaker, “Overview and Discussion of Policy Changes Emerging at the State Level,” The National Alliance for Primary Care Informatics, April 2004.
Speaker, “A Proposal to Establish a Revolving Loan Fund for Community Heath Information Networks,” eHealth Initiative’s Investing in America’s Health, March 2004.
Speaker, “21st Century Health Care: The Information Technology Impact on the Quality and Cost-Effectiveness of Healthcare,” The New America Foundation, Broadband Forum and Universal Healthcare Program, November 2003.
Facilitator, Financial Incentives Track, National Health Information Infrastructure 2003 Conference: Developing a National Action Agenda for NHII, Washington, D.C., June 2003.
Presenter, “Federal Financing of Healthcare Information Technology Infrastructure,” HealthTech Information Technology Workgroup, January 2003.
Co-Chairman, Emerging Technologies in Healthcare Conference, 2002.
Panelist, Fred Friendly Seminar on the future of academic medicine, 2000.
Moderator, “Restructuring Healthcare: The Debate Continues,” Empire State Report Conference, 1996.
Moderator, “Restructuring Healthcare: What Should the Ground Rules Be?” Empire State Report Conference, 1995.
