Joseph J. Feltes
Partner in Charge, Canton Office
Health & Medicine
Litigation
Employment & Workers' Compensation

Practice Area And Professional Expertise

• Represents physicians and hospitals in compliance, contracting, and Medical Staff issues (including credentialing, corrective action and disruptive physician issues).
  
  
• Experienced in HIPAA Privacy.
  
  
• Advises companies and individuals on how to avoid liability for e-mail and Internet use and how to implement retention and disposition policies for electronically stored records.
  
  
• Represents health care providers in antitrust, credentialing, false claims, fraud and abuse, and malpractice litigation.
  
  
• Represents acute care and rehabilitation hospitals, physicians, managed care plans and TPAs, durable medical equipment suppliers, and other health care providers and suppliers.
  
  
• Represents employers in discrimination, wrongful termination, and other employment matters.
  
  
• Represents healthcare employers in drafting employees handbooks and compliance policies.
  
  
• Chairman of the Firm’s Records Retention Committee.
  
  
• Listed: The Best Lawyers in America® (2009 - 2010).
  
  
• Recognized as one of Ohio's Super Lawyers™, in the 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2010 Cincinnati Magazine, as voted by his peers.
  
  
• Listed: Top Lawyers in Northeastern Ohio in Akron Life and Leisure Magazine (2009).
  
  
• Martindale-Hubbell Rating of AV, which indicates very high to pre-eminent legal ability and very high ethical standards as established by confidential opinions from members of the Bar.
  

Publications
Author of chapter “Informal Dispute Resolution and Its Use in Peer Review,” for the
Peer Review Guidebook, published by the American Health Lawyers Association.

"Stimulus Incentives: Look Before You Leap," Cleveland / Akron / Canton M.D. News             (May/June 2009)
"Risks Rising for 'Delayed Diagnosis' ED Litigation," ED Legal Letter (April 2009)
“Happy 5th Birthday, HIPAA!” Greater Akron/Canton edition of M.D. News (May/June 2008)
“Discovery of Electronically Stored Information, How Ohio’s Proposed Civil Rules Might Affect            Physician Practices,” Akron/Canton M.D. News (March/April 2008)
“How a Doctor’s Blog Turned His Defense Into a Fleabag,” Akron/Canton M.D. News            (July/August 2007)
“Email Communication: Mind Your Mouse,” Ophthalmology Magazine, August 2006
“Pay-for-Performance: A Way for Hospitals to Bond with Their Medical Staffs,” Hospitals &            Health Systems Rx (American Health Lawyers Association) April 2006, Vol. 8, Issue 1
“Pay-for-Performance: Giving Your Practice a Shot-In-the-Arm,” M.D. News, May 2006
“Going Bare?” Ophthalmology Management, September 2005
“Disruptive Physicians: An Alternative to Formal Corrective Action,” The Cleveland Bar Journal,            March 2004
“ ‘I’m Sorry’ – A Prescription for Preventing Malpractice Suits,” M.D. News, September-October            2004; Texas Reporter, October 2005

Presentations
Mr. Feltes speaks on health law, provider compliance, medical staff and problem physician            remediation, clinical e-mail and communication issues, HIPAA, and related issues for            various organizations and clients throughout the Midwest.

Presentations include:

Conducted Webinar: "COBRA Changes Under The American Recovery and Reinvestment           Act," Employers Health (March 19,2009)
Moderator: Stark County Medical Society Legislative Forum (March 12, 2009)
“Adventures and Misadventures of E-Mail and the Internet,” Bruner-Cox LLP
           (November 6, 2008)
“Physicians Behaving Badly, Jerks, Juveniles, and the Otherwise Impaired,” Akron General            Medical Center (July 9, 2008)
“HIPAA, the Internet & Beyond,” Northeast Ohio Eye Surgeons (March 12, 2008)
“Sarbanes-Oxley In Ohio: Compliance for Health Care Entities,” Lorman Education Services,           August 22, 2006
“Bridges to Excellence: Data Collection, Use, and Reporting from a Legal Perspective,” co-           sponsors: Employers Health Purchasing Company of Ohio and the Stark County            Medical Society, May 17, 2006
“Collateral Consequences for Healthcare Professionals Arising from Criminal Convictions,”            Akron Bar Association, Criminal Law Committee, January 2006
“Spam I Am – Not: The Adventures and Misadventures of E-mail and the Internet,” Akron            Society for Human Resource Management, April 12, 2006
“Business Ethics for Employers in a Post-Enron World,” April 2006
“The Misadventures of E-mail and the Internet,” Ohio State Bar Association Spring Education            Program, 2006
“Liability for Teachers and School Systems Arising Out of Bad Behavior,” College of Wooster,            Spring 2006
“Liability Concerns for High School and Middle School Coaches,” 2006
“The Importance of Effective Communication for Preventing Lawsuits,” Northern Ohio            Universities College of Medicine, Fall 2005
“Political and Societal Effects on the Delivery of Healthcare,” Mount Union College, Winter            2005

Education
Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, D.C. (J.D., cum laude, 1978)
           -Topics Editor, American Criminal Law Review
University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (M.A., with distinction, 1972)
            -Mellon Foundation Fellowship
John Carroll University, Cleveland, Ohio (A.B., magna cum laude, 1970)
Loyola University, Rome, Italy

Courts & Bar Associations
Ohio Bar (1978)
United States District Court, Northern District of Ohio
Member: American Bar Association, Health Law Section, Antitrust Section
Member: Ohio State Bar Association, Health Law Committee
Member: Stark County Bar Association

Professional & Civic Affiliations
Member: American Health Lawyers Association
Member: Ohio Society of Hospital Attorneys
Member, Board of Trustees: Canton Museum of Art
Advisory Board: Pregnancy Support Center
Advisory Board: WAPS 91.3 The Summit (Akron-Canton Public Radio Station)