Medical Billing & Collections Expert Witnesses: 9

Dr. Roberto Contreras, II, MD, CLCP, is the CEO of the California Life Care Planning Association, a company created by experts in the field of Life Care Planning with more than 30 years of experience working in the health care industry. 

Dr. Contreras is a Certified in Life Care Planner with over120 hours in Life Care Planning coursework. He graduated from George Washington University School of Medicine with specialty training in Internal Medicine / Hospitalist Medicine at the University of Southern California with a fellowship in Physician Leadership at the University of California at San Francisco.

The Physicians employed by the California Life Care Planning Association have diverse backgrounds allowing them to provider Expert Witness services as well in Internal Medicine, Addiction Medicine, Obstetrics & Gynecology, as well as Psychiatry.

Areas of Expertise: Medical Billing, Life Care Planning, Hospitalist, Medical Devices, Medical Management, Medical Coding, Legal Medicine, Legal Nurse Consulting, Nurse Practitioner, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Addiction Medicine, Family Medicine, General Practice
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Services:

• Life Care Plan Development - Life Care Plans are generated to meet the specific needs of an individual and their family. A Life Care Plan will provide an organized, detailed plan that estimates a person’s estimated future medical needs.
• Life Care Plan Critiques - Life Care Plans are developed for people with injuries such as spinal cord injury, birth injury, traumatic brain injury, amputations, chronic pain, chronic health conditions, geriatric needs, people with special needs. Dr. Contreras work with both plaintiff and defense attorneys with Life Care Plan generation as well as critiques.
• Medical Cost Projection - Dr. Contreras and his team provide assessments of an individual's medical condition, future medical requirements, and associated costs.
• Medical Bill Review - Reliable, transparent, and consistent reports on past medical bills for both plaintiff and defense attorneys, as well as individuals looking for an assessment of their medical bills.
• Consultative Examinations - Communicate, Interview and Examine the injured party to provide an assessment and discuss future care. In areas of high Covid-19 infectivity, or for clients who prefer to be seen remotely, Dr. Contreras also offers telehealth consultative examinations, that allow us to fully assess the client without risk of infection to anyone.

We have offices throughout the US and have worked on more than 3,000 cases in 41 states and multiple countries. There is a reason Garrett Discovery is hired by the top trial attorneys in the nation. 

Garrett Discovery has a team of expert witnesses providing Litigation Services in Digital Forensics, Auto and Truck Accidents, Intellectual Property Theft, Mobile Forensics, EDR Forensics, Cell Tower, Call Detail Records, Electronic Medical Record Analysis, and Medical Malpractice Forensics. No matter how complex the case, they can help you discover what happened and present it in a way that everyone can understand. 

Our clients range from the largest law firms to private firms, large corporations, the Department of Defense, government agencies, advocacy groups, the DOJ to the innocence projects. 

Garrett Discovery is a large firm that has experts in the following concentrations: 

HLN offers Peer-reviewed methodologies and Appellate court proven testimony by experienced professionals who have provided consulting services and conducted audits and investigations for hundreds of hospitals, physicians and other healthcare providers nationwide. HLN's experts have provided expert testimony in administrative and regulatory proceedings, as well as in state and federal courts for civil and criminal cases, for plaintiffs and defendants.

HLN provides experts in: medical billing, reasonableness of charges, reasonable value of medical services, Medicare & Medicaid reimbursement and compliance, clinical documentation, medical record coding, economic damages, insurance disputes, lost profits and false claims. HLN's founder co-authored two editions of the AMA's best selling Mastering the Reimbursement Process book. 

HLN's Consultants include:

Jacqueline N. Bloink, MBA, RHIA, CHC, CFE, CPC, CPC-I, CPCO, CMRS has over 20 years of experience on the business side of Healthcare that includes: Medical Coding / Reimbursement (Reasonable Value of Billed Amounts), Revenue Cycle Managment, Healthcare Compliance and Healthcare Fraud.

Background - Ms. Bloink served as the Director of Compliance for the largest provider group in Arizona. For several years she worked as a Medical Coding Manager, Reimbursement Manager, and Compliance Liaison for a University Physician Group - Department of Medicine, and as Corporate Responsibility Auditor for a large 3 Hospital network. Ms. Bloink is a Professor and Instructor in the area of Medical Coding, Billing, Health Information Management, and Healthcare Fraud. She also served as a Compliance Officer for a Telehealth organization and works with healthcare providers of multispeciality departments assisting them to better understand medical coding and billing guidelines.  She is a national, state and local speaker (author) for such groups as ACFE, HCCA, AAPC, AMBA, American College of Physicians, CLM, Coalition Against Insurance Fraud, CA AHIMA, and others. As a co-designer and presenter with CMS (MLN) and OIG in 2014 webinar - ACA Provider Compliance Program - she assisted in reaching thousands of healthcare providers learn more about healthcare compliance.  In 2015, she was honored to be the recipient of the Arizona ACFE Sentinel Award “Truth Over Self” that acknowledged her assistance to the Office of Inspector General / Department of Justice with the largest Healthcare Fraud Case (FCA) in Arizona history. 

Litigation Support - Jacqueline N. Bloink is a knowledgeable expert witness with Healthcare Fraud litigation support history and proven experience with evaluating case allegations and calculating Usual, Reasonable and Customary charges (reasonable value of billed amounts.) She offers services to expert witness firms, attorneys, health plans, providers, forensic consulting firms, governments, and IROs. 

Areas of Expertise:

View Jacqueline N. Bloink's Consulting Profile.

Kimberly A. Baldwin-Stried-Reich, MBA, MJ, PBCI, CPHIMS, RHIA, CEDS, CPHQ, FAHIMA, has over 30 years of experience in a variety of healthcare settings. She specializes in Healthcare Informatics and HIPAA Compliance.

Ms. Reich holds a Master’s of Business (MBA) from the Lake Forest Graduate School of Management, a Master’s of Jurisprudence (MJ) in Health Law and Policy from the Loyola School of Law - Beazley Institute for Health Law and Policy in Chicago, IL and a Post Baccalaureate in Clinical Informatics (PBCI) from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Clinical Informatics Certificate Program.  She is the first Registered Health Information Administrator (RHIA) to complete the Johns Hopkins Division of Health Sciences Informatics Certificate Program and certification in EDiscovery. She is the lead author of the 2012 AHIMA publication E-Discovery and Electronic Records, a first of its kind healthcare e-discovery resources. 

Ms. Reich maintains active membership and participates in The Sedona Conference® for Privacy & Security & Electronic Records Production, American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA), American Medical Informatics (AMIA), Healthcare Compliance Association (HCCA), Society for Corporate Compliance & Ethics (SCCE), Society for Participatory Medicine (SPM), American Society for Healthcare Risk Management (ASHRM), Information Governance Initiative (IGI) and Greater Chicago Health Information Management Systems Society (GCCHIMSS).

Litigation Support - Ms. Reich is an expert witness for both defense and plaintiff legal counsel in matters involving HIPAA, e-discovery, and Electronic Health Records Systems fraud and abuse. Her services include thorough report preparation, depositions, and trial testimony. 

Areas of Expertise:

View Kimberly Reich's Consulting Profile.

MRK Medical Consultants provides Medical-Legal Evaluations to help legal and insurance professionals reach appropriate conclusions about their client's situations. MRK provides a wide array of medical experts that offer objective review and analysis of personal injuries. Each stage of the process—research to review, analysis to opinion—is addressed in a comprehensive manner in order to help legal and insurance professionals reach appropriate conclusions about their client’s situations. MRK's prestigious list of more than forty consultants are active clinicians and surgeons, who are all board-certified or eligible in one or more specialties. MRK provides physician experts to the entire State of California, the Reno/Lake Tahoe area, and Las Vegas, and we travel to many areas of the United States. Physical therapy, registered nurses, physician assistant, and billing review consultants are available services MRK provides. Our office physicians are available for telephone review of the merits of your case before you decide to proceed.  

Edward W. Younger, III, M.D., Medical Director of MRK Medical Consultants, specializes in Orthopedic Surgery. He has extensive experience in total joint replacement, as well as reconstructive surgery of the knee, hip, and shoulder. He was instrumental in bringing computer navigation technology to his hospital. He served on the orthopedic trauma staff at Mercy San Juan Medical Center in Carmichael, California, for more than fifteen years and was instrumental in bringing computer navigation technology to that institution. He is a member of Alpha Omega Alpha National Honor Society and is a Diplomate of the American Board of Orthopedic Surgery, a member of the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, and the California Orthopedic Association.

Dr. Michael R. Klein, Jr., M.D., specializes in Orthopedic Surgery and is a founding member and the first Medical Director of Northern California Orthopedic Centers. He was involved with the development of the orthopedic section of the Level II Trauma Center at Mercy San Juan Medical Center. He served as a clinical professor at the University of California, Davis, Medical Center for more than thirty years. He has been a member of the North American Spine Society since 2009 and was awarded the David O. Selby Award in 2020 for his contributions. He is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, and a member of the American Medical Association and the California Medical Association. He retired from the USAF in 1998 after being on active duty during the Vietnam War, and he was activated for Operation Desert Storm in 1991. 

MRK's Areas of Expertise:

Reed Tinsley, CPA has provided consulting services to physicians and physician related entities and their legal counsel for more than 20 years. A sampling of his services to physicians include all aspects of physician practice management and economics, managed care contract review / negotiation, profit growth strategies, strategic planning, practice merger facilitation, physician contract reviews, physician buy-ins/buy-outs, regulatory compliance, and litigation support. Mr. Tinsley's litigation support specific services have included billing and collection reviews, medical practice or healthcare entity business valuation, lost profits analysis, covenant not to compete valuation, wrongful termination damage analysis, physician compensation disputes, and overhead allocation reviews. He has also been engaged as a court appointed Special Master and Receiver.

Areas of Expertise:

1. Practice and Healthcare Entity Valuation
2. Economic, Financial and Statistical Analysis Expert Witness
3. Physician Economic Disputes
4. Billing, Collection, Accounts Receivable Reviews
5. Managed Care Contract Reviews
6. Office Sharing and Physician Compensation Overhead Allocations
7. Physician Contract Disputes
8. Physician Compensation
9. Lost Profits and other Damage Analysis / Calculations
10. Physician Regulatory Compliane

Reed Tinsley is a Houston-based CPA, Certified Valuation Analyst, and healthcare consultant. His entire practice is devoted to providing tax, accounting, and healthcare consulting services to physicians and their attorneys. Reed has published numerous articles in national and regional publications and is frequently asked to speak on a variety of health care topics, including capitation, revenue enhancement, and integration strategies. His articles have been published in the Journal of Medical Practice Management, MGMA Journal, Hospital Physician, Texas Medicine Family Practice Journal, and Group Practice Journal. Mr. Tinsley also serves on the Editorial Panel of Consultants for the publication Managed Care Contract Negotiator.

Research & Planning Consultants, LP (RPC) has been assisting clients with expert services for over 45 years, including consulting and expert witness testimony for personal injury, healthcare litigation, commercial litigation and Certificate of Need matters. RPC also offers a wide selection of health data. They have served clients across the U.S, from Alaska to Florida and from New England to California. 

A Complete Team of Damages Experts for Personal Injury Litigation

Research & Planning Consultants, LP provides the following services: 

• PERSONAL INJURY - RPC provides comprehensive damages analysis in personal injury litigation. Their expert team has life care planners, vocational evaluators, board-certified physicians, economists and neuropsychologists. 

Areas of Expertise include: Life Care Plans, Loss of Earning Capacity or Support, Present Value of Damages, Medical Bill Analysis, Chargemaster Analysis, Neuropsychological Testing & Traumatic Brain Injury, Vocational Evaluations, IMEs, Section 18.001, Prestanding ED Chargemaster Analysis

• COMMERCIAL LITIGATION- RPC has provided expert analysis on commercial litigation concerning many industries: chemicals, refining, forestry, waste management, pipelines, water resources, oil and gas EDP, fisheries, agriculture, electrical generating plants, transmission lines, telecommunications, and real estate development. Our special expertise in the healthcare industry has proven valuable to business litigators unfamiliar with this complex industry.

Areas of Expertise: Breach of Contract / Commercial Economic Damages, Construction Disputes, Litigation over Non-Competitive Agreements, Environmental Torts and Toxic Torts, Commercial Disparagement, Wrongful Termination

• HEALTHCARE LITIGATION - RPC offers economic, statistical, data and clinical analysis in a wide range of healthcare litigation. They have experience with payment disputes, qui tam litigation, physician-hospital disputes, practice valuations and construction litigation. 

Areas of Expertise: Qui Tam Healthcare Litigation, Medical Staff Disputes, Professional Liability, Payment Disputes, Health Facility Construction Disputes, Freestanding ED Chargemester Analysis

• CERTIFICATE OF NEED - RPC provides Certificate of Need (CON) planning services nationwide. We have over 35 years of experience developing regulatory strategy, preparing applications and testifying in public and administrative hearings.

Areas of Expertise: Satellite Hospitals, New Hospitals, Relocation and Transfer of Beds, Observation Beds, Geriatric Psychiatric Units, Children’s Hospitals, Comprehensive Inpatient Rehabilitation Units, Neonatal Intensive Care Units, Open Heart Surgery Services, Long Term Acute Care Units, Projects that exceed CON Capital Threshold Limits, Projects for Specifically Listed Services, Programs Requiring CON, Hospices, Senior Living Facilities

Ronald T. Luke, JD, PhD, is a principal consultant and President of RPC, LP. Ron joined RPC in 1976 and became its president and principal owner in 1979. He has consulted on projects for health care providers, managed care plans and public agencies in more than 25 states. He also serves as an expert witness in trials, administrative proceedings and legislative hearings.

Active in the Health Policy Arena, Dr. Luke has been accepted as an expert in Economics, Socioeconomic Impact Analysis, and Policy Analysis by state and federal courts, and state administrative agencies. The types of cases in which he has provided expert testimony include personal injury, contractual disputes, health care payment disputes, construction defects, utility construction permitting, and certificate of need. He has testified on health care matters including market structure, billing fraud and abuse, reasonableness of charges, medical staff credentialing, workers’ compensation fee guidelines, utilization review, physician contracts, and managed care contracts.

Kacy L. Turner, MS, CRC, CVE, CLCP, is a Certified Life Care Planner and Vocational Consultant with RPC. She has over 20 years of experience in Rehabilitation. Ms. Turner has experience writing life care plans for both plaintiff and defense clients. She has experience as a rehabilitation consultant in three states and has been qualified as a testifying expert in state and federal court.  

Ms. Turner has worked on cases in several states as well as the country of Trinidad. To determine the pre-injury and post-injury employability in personal injury cases, she provides vocational testing, transferable skills analysis, job requirements analysis, rehabilitation plans, and definition of reasonable accommodations under the American with Disabilities Act. She is a member of the International Association of Rehabilitation Professionals, the Texas Association of Rehabilitation Professionals and Providers of Services, and Vocational Evaluation and Career Assessment Professionals.

Brian Piper, PhD,  is an Economist with RPC specializing in Quantitative Analysis and Modelling. He works on a variety of cases including personal injury and certificate of need. He is experienced in data extraction, management, simulation, and analysis using STATA, SQL, ARC GIS and a variety of other programs. Dr. Piper has taught graduate classes in statistics and econometrics in both MBA and Ph.D. programs.

Dr. Piper is an experienced expert, providing testimony, reports, and affidavits on the issues of economic damages in personal injury litigation, healthcare litigation, False Claims Act litigation, and other commercial litigation. He has testified on behalf of plaintiffs and defendants. 

Dr. Piper specializes in the economics of healthcare. He has been retained by healthcare providers and insurers in payment disputes. He has analyzed the reasonableness of charges and expected payment for past and future medical services for providers, insurers, plaintiffs, and defendants. Besides work in litigation, Dr. Piper has provided analysis of Certificate of Need applications and the economic impacts of proposed legislation.

Elliott M. Stein, MD is a Geriatric Psychiatrist with over 40 years of experience caring for the elderly. Dr. Stein is Board Certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in General Psychiatry (October, 1979), and in Geriatric Psychiatry (April, 1991; Re-Certified, December, 2001, and in April, 2011). He is licensed to practice in California and Florida. Dr. Stein was the Director of Psychiatry at the Jewish Home of San Francisco from 2010-2020, and the Medical Director of their Geriatric Psychiatry Hospital. He has treated older individuals, typically people who have complex combination of psychiatric and medical problems. Dr. Stein has been a Member of the Task Force on Testamentary Capacity and Undue Influence, for the International PsychoGeriatric Association.

Dr. Stein is a Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine. He is a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and a Distinguished Fellow of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry.

He is available to serve as an Expert Witness, do legal and forensic consultation, record review, and assessments concerning Psychiatric issues in older individuals. Dr. Stein offers his services to attorneys for both Plaintiff or Defense.

Areas of Expertise:

• Contested Wills and Trusts
• Testamentary Capacity, Undue Influence, Insane Delusions
• Geriatric Competence
• Dementia and Delirium, Alzheimer’s Disease
• Geriatric Psychiatry Evaluation and Treatment, Psychiatric Medication, Psychotherapeutic Issues
• Depression and Anxiety Disorders
• Relationship Problems between the Elderly and their Adult Children
• Aging and Mental Disorders
• Geriatric Psychiatry issues concerning Hospitals, Nursing Homes, Independent and Assisted Living Facilities
• Medicare Psychiatric Services Coding and Documentation

View Dr. Stein's Consulting Profile.