Serving 4.8 million patients each year, Houston is well known internationally as the home of one of the best medical communities. With over 85 hospitals across the city and within the Texas Medical Center, these healthcare facilities employ more than 110,000 medical professionals – about one-third of all healthcare workers in the region. The Texas Medical Center (TMC), located only ten minutes away from downtown Houston, has the highest concentration of hospitals, clinics, and healthcare providers in the world.
Houston healthcare employment has grown faster than any other sector in the city. Between 2008 and 2018, jobs in healthcare grew an average of 3.5 percent annually compared to non-healthcare sectors that only grew at a rate of 1.7 percent each year. While some of Houston’s top health industry employers include hospitals, the majority of health industry job growth is occurring outside of hospitals. Lab technicians, home health aides, and therapists are highly sought-after jobs due to Houston’s aging population.
Healthcare entities and providers face an increasingly challenging legal environment. Over $4 billion was paid to plaintiffs in medical malpractice lawsuits in 2018 alone, and Texas is one of the top four states for medical malpractice claims. At Sprott Newsom Quattlebaum Messenger, we have crafted a reputation for healthcare litigation and medical malpractice defense. Shareholder Joel Sprott has been recognized as one of the Top 1% of Medical Malpractice Attorneys in America. Shareholder Michele Quattlebaum is known for her representation of chiropractors across the country, including in both litigation matters and before regulatory and licensing boards.
Our firm has successfully represented health industry clients in a large variety of actions, including actions involving healthcare liability claims involving the Texas Medical Liability Act, contracts, provider reimbursement, benefits administration under ERISA, medical staff credentialing and peer review, wrongful termination, administrative and licensure proceedings, and databank reporting. In addition to vigorously representing clients in the courtroom for litigation matters, our attorneys also represent providers in disciplinary and other proceedings before a variety of boards and administrative tribunals, including physician, nursing, chiropractic, dental, counseling, and pharmacy boards. We also counsel our health industry clients on compliance with state and federal healthcare regulations in many areas, including patient confidentiality and HIPAA, EMTALA, and Stark and Anti-Kickback compliance.