Here's an interview of David Harlow at Medscape.com titled "Doctors and Lawyers and Government! Oh, My!" by Nicholas Genes, MD, PhD. Some excerpts (including Harlow's reason for blogging):
David Harlow has been working with doctors and healthcare agencies for his entire career...as a lawyer. He shares his views and experiences online at his Web site, HealthBlawg. I recently corresponded with Mr. Harlow about his work, the problems he sees in healthcare, and what he accomplishes online.
Dr. Genes: As a lawyer who works with healthcare providers, how would you say most doctors view your fellow lawyers? How are you perceived by the medical community?
David Harlow: It's a truism that lawyers are often seen as obstacles to rational development of clinical and business arrangements in the healthcare field; this also finds expression in jokes like:
- What do you call 1000 lawyers on the bottom of the ocean?
- A good start.
I certainly get that vibe sometimes. However, as I always tell clients and prospective clients, I practice preventive law. My clients appreciate the fact that I'm not the kind of lawyer who routinely says, "No, you can't do that." Often, a client will describe a proposed business deal to me, and I will suggest restructuring it in order to avoid regulatory land mines -- be they Stark, anti-kickback, state licensing issues, etc -- while achieving approximately the same business results. I like to be there at the inception of new relationships between physicians and hospitals; physicians and diagnostic imaging or radiation therapy providers; nonacute facilities and their vendors; etc, so that I may assist in designing business relationships that can withstand both the tests of time and the scrutiny of government agencies, rather than arriving on the scene later and defending a client facing allegations of wrongdoing.
. . .
Dr. Genes: You told The New York Times that you started blogging when you left a large firm to start your own group. How has the experiment worked out? You've gained a few clients via the blog, but have other clients been wary of your publicly aired opinions? As someone who seems to do his share of lecturing and academic writing, how have you approached the "dashed-off" nature of blogging?
David Harlow: I blog for several interrelated reasons, in no particular order: My blog is a public relations and
