Richard D. Watters

ATTORNEY AT LAW

Phone:

Email:

Biography

Richard D. Watters advises all types of health care clients from large hospital systems to individual physicians, nurses and other health care professionals on various matters including general health care laws and regulations, business operations, contracting, governance and corporate issues, licensing/regulatory compliance, the Stark Law, fraud and abuse, EMTALA, Certificates of Need, medical staff issues, practice and business acquisitions, joint ventures, Medicare and Medicaid conditions of participation, and reimbursement and contract negotiations.

Mr. Watters has considerable experience in obtaining Certificates of Need for hospitals, nursing homes and imaging centers. He has also obtained numerous multi-million dollar verdicts for his hospital and nursing home clients in Medicaid reimbursement appeals. He often represents health care institutions and individual professionals before regulatory agencies, licensing bodies, professional organizations, medical staff committees, PROs, Medicare and managed care.

Rick has been selected by his peers for inclusion in Best Lawyers in America^® in the field of Health Care Law, each year since 1991. In 2011, he was awarded the Health Care Lawyer of the Year for the St. Louis area by Best Lawyers in America^®. He has been included in the group of Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers lists for the field of Health Care Law each year since 2005, including Top 50 St. Louis Lawyers in 2007, and Top 50 and 100 Lawyers in 2005. He earned his J.D., cum laude, from Saint Louis University School of Law.

Representative Clients

Missouri Foundation for Health
Missouri Nurses Association
Murray County Medical Center
Saint Francis Medical Center
Scotland County Memorial
Tenet Healthcare Corporation
Washington County Memorial Hospital

Community Service & Awards

ICON Award, Missouri Lawyers Media, 2020
Martindale-Hubbell, AV Preeminent^® Peer Review Rating
Best Lawyers in America^®Health Care Law, 1991 – Present
Best Lawyers in America^®St. Louis Health Care Lawyer of the Year, 2011
Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers
Health Care, 2005 – Present
Top 50 Attorney in St. Louis, 2005 & 2007
Top 100 Attorney in St. Louis, 2005
“Leadership – St. Louis,” 1988 – 1989
United Cerebral Palsy Association of Greater St. Louis, President and Chairman of the Board, 1985 – 1986
Medical Ethics Committee of DePaul Health Center, 1990 – 2005
Saint Louis University, Instructor in Law, Continuing lecturer at the School of Nursing, 1977 – 1979

Lectures & Legal Publications

“Certificate of Need Process to get a New Facility Approved and Initial Licensing,” Senior Living Forum Seminar
“The Future of Medicine,” Louis Business Journal Seminar
“New Face to Face Requirements for Home Health Services,” client presentation
“Interpreting Joint Rules and Regulations Applicable to Collaborative Practices Between Physicians and Nurses,” University of Missouri – St. Louis College of Nursing
Co-author of “Annotated Guide to Missouri Nursing Laws and Regulations 1^st Edition,” published 2010 by Missouri Nurses Association
“New Rules for APRN Collaboration and PA Supervisor Agreements,” Medical Group Management Association of Missouri
“Impact of New Networks on Hospital-Physician Relationships,” St. Louis Metropolitan Medical Society
“Expanded Practice for Nurses and Pas,” Saint Louis University School of Law
“The Collaborative Practice Act and Related Issues,” Fourth Annual Medical-Legal Symposium
“Credentialing & Privileging: New Issues, New Challenges,” Hospital Services Group
“The National Practitioner Data Bank: Is It a Necessary House of Horrors?” The Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis and the St. Louis Metropolitan Medical Society

My Team

Administrative Assistant:
Katrina Brown
kbrown@lashlybaer.com
314-335-1004

Practice Areas

Health Care
Business & Corporate

Bar Admissions

Supreme Court of Missouri, 1976
Supreme Court of Illinois, 1977

Education

Saint Louis University School of Law, St. Louis, Missouri
- J.D., cum laude, 1976
Bradley University, Peoria, Illinois
- B.S.I.E., 1973

Professional Associations

American Health Lawyers’ Association
American Bar Association
- Forum Committee on Health Law
The Missouri Bar
- Health & Hospital Law Committee
- Administrative Law Committee
Illinois State Bar Association
- Health Law Section
Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis
Missouri Society of Health Care Attorneys
- President, 1990 – 1991
St. Louis Health Care Lawyers