Carolyn Lloyd Coward

Concentrating in health care and labor and employment law, Carolyn advises physicians, hospitals, long-term facilities, and other health care entities, on federal and state regulatory issues, fraud and abuse statutes, physician self-referral laws (Stark), HIPAA, structuring business ventures in compliance with government regulations, Medicare/Medicaid reimbursement, and compliance program management. She also advises medical centers and government agencies, as well as small family-owned businesses, on general employment matters. 

Carolyn represents health care providers before professional licensing boards and medical staff on peer review matters, reimbursement appeals, and business disputes. She advises providers in transactional and operational matters, such as the establishment of physician practices, the development of employment and shareholder agreements, and the structuring of compensation arrangements.

Practice Highlights

• Unwound three major medical practices and successfully negotiated terms without litigation or alternative dispute resolution and no interruption of practice business.
• Represented a physician practice in a reimbursement issue with Medicare in which the practice was allowed to retain $100,000 in contested fees.
• Regularly represents providers in Medicare appeals and recently successfully argued before the ALJ an appeal that allowed the provider to recoup over $100,000.
• Successfully structured business ventures between hospitals and physicians in compliance with fraud and abuse, physician self-referral, and tax-exempt laws.
• Successfully defended a local hospital in U.S. District Court in a multi-million dollar claim commenced by a surgeon as a result of his medical privileges being summarily suspended at the recommendation of the hospital’s medical staff. The action asserted claims for deprivation of due process, freedom of speech, breach of contract, slander, and contract interference.

Presentations

• “Red Flags, HITECH, and RAC Audits,” Mountain Area Health Education Center, 2009
• “Red Flag Rules,” WNC Medical Group Managers, 2009
• “The Business of Healthcare,” University of North Carolina Festival of Legal Learning, 2006 – 2009
• “Patient Care Issues,” Mountain Area Health Education Center, 2002 – 2009
• “Hot Topics – Stark, Anti-Markup Rule, Incident To Rules,” WNC Medical Group Managers, 2008
• “Successful Collaborations Between Group Practices and Hospitals,” Buncombe County Medical Society, 2008
• “Confidentiality of Medical Records in North Carolina,” Lorman Educational Services, 2002 – 2008
• “Legal Overview of Healthcare Issues,” Buncombe County Medical Society’s Annual Practice Managers Seminar, 2002 – 2008

Professional Affiliations

• 28th Judicial District Bar, 1999 – present
• American Health Lawyers Association, 2000 – present
• North Carolina Bar Association, 1999 – present
• North Carolina State Bar, 1999 – present
• Elected to Business North Carolina Legal Elite in 2009

A native of Robbinsville, N.C., Carolyn is a graduate of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Phi Kappa Phi, and received her law degree from the University of North Carolina Law School at Chapel Hill.

Carolyn is married to Orville D. Coward, Jr., an attorney with Coward, Hicks and Siler, P.A.

Favorite Food:
Mexican

Favorite Artists:
WNC artists – Craig Forrest, Roger Stephens

Favorite Music:
Bob Dylan

Favorite Book/Author:
Any book by Dostoevsky or Tolstoy

Favorite Movie:
Any movie by the Coen brothers

Most Recently Visited:
London

Guilty Pleasures:
Designing and furnishing interior spaces

Community Involvement

• Buncombe County Chamber of Commerce Healthcare Roundtable, 2004 – present
• Howell Foundation (Educational Scholarships), 2005 – present
• Leadership Asheville, Board of Directors, 2008 – present
• Morehead Foundation (Educational Scholarships), 2007 – present