The hallmark of Nathan Kottkamp’s practice is that he regularly handles intricate—and often urgent—matters, such as professional licensure complaints, regulatory deficiency findings, difficult patient/ethics issues, medical staff issues, and just about anything else that inevitably arises in the complex context of providing health care services. When he is not tending to these situations, Nathan provides experience-informed counsel to clients to reduce the risk or extent of problems in the first place, at both the state and federal levels.

The hallmark of Nathan Kottkamp’s practice is that he regularly handles intricate—and often urgent—matters, such as professional licensure complaints, regulatory deficiency findings, difficult patient/ethics issues, medical staff issues, and just about anything else that inevitably arises in the complex context of providing health care services. When he is not tending to these situations, Nathan provides experience-informed counsel to clients to reduce the risk or extent of problems in the first place, at both the state and federal levels.

Among Nathan’s clients are hospitals and health systems, academic medical centers, behavioral health care services providers, senior care providers and retirement communities, specialty physician practices, post-acute, and long-term care providers.

Nathan is a nationally recognized authority on the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). In addition to his other privacy and security experience, Nathan has earned the CIPP/US designation as a Certified Information Privacy Professional from the International Association of Privacy Professionals. He has been recognized as a "Leading Lawyer" for Cyber Law in Virginia by Legal 500 U.S. (2017-2018) and has been named to "Legal Elite," Health Law by Virginia Business (2009-2017, 2019-2022). Complementing his HIPAA experience, Nathan routinely addresses issues involving 42 CFR Part 2, with respect to substance use disorder records.

Nathan has advised on numerous Certificate of Public Need (COPN) matters ranging from service expansions to the development of new hospitals, retirement communities, substance abuse facilities, and ambulatory surgery centers. Nathan also counsels clients on the Emergency Medical Treatment & Active Labor Act (EMTALA); the False Claims Act (FCA); the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS); the Stark Law; the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act); the Food and Drug Administration (FDA); and state data breach laws.

Nathan’s higher education experience includes various accreditation and licensure matters, educational affiliation agreements for practical experiences, student health and campus safety issues, and the interplay of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) with HIPAA.

Nathan is actively engaged in addressing complex public health issues. He is the founder and chair of National Healthcare Decisions Day (www.nhdd.org), which highlights the importance of advance care planning (living will, health care agents, do not resuscitate (DNR) orders, and organ donation/anatomical gift documents). He is also a member of the Advance Directives Task Force Committee of the Supreme Court of Virginia Commission on Mental Health Law Reform, and a member of the Legislative Committee of the Central Virginia Overdose Working Group. For over 20 years, Nathan has been a member of several hospital ethics committees, in all cases serving on a pro-bono basis.

Within the firm, Nathan also serves on the Williams Mullen Diversity and Inclusion and Well-Being committees and is the chair of the sub-committee that is developing the firm’s Well-Being, Diversity, Inclusion, and Engagement (WIDE) vision statement and action plan. 

Nathan is a prolific writer and regular speaker on a wide array of legal and ethics topics, including crisis management, HIPAA, digital health, 42 CFR Part 2, and ransomware.

Nathan earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, where he also earned his Master of Arts degree in bioethics. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from William & Mary.

THE MATTERS LISTED BELOW ARE ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE MATTERS HANDLED BY THE FIRM.  MATTER RESULTS DEPEND UPON A VARIETY OF FACTORS UNIQUE TO EACH MATTER.  NOT ALL MATTER RESULTS ARE PROVIDED. MATTER RESULTS DO NOT GUARANTEE OR PREDICT A SIMILAR RESULT IN ANY FUTURE MATTER UNDERTAKEN BY THE LAWYER.

  • Assisted licensed health care professionals (e.g., physicians, nurse practitioners, psychologists, social workers, counselors, nurses, pharmacists, and veterinarians) with responding to complaints before the Virginia Department of Health Professions relating to sexual encounters with patients, breach of confidentiality, bias, impairment, and conflict of interest in custody evaluation cases.
  • Develops strategies for unusual resident situations (e.g., residents who fail to pay their monthly dues, residents who are resisting a move to a higher level of care, residents resisting medically appropriate discharge, managing of resident pet incidents, dementia and decision-making challenges, COVID protocols, and issues regarding firearms on campus) for Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRCs).
  • Develops HIPAA compliance plans for organizations of all sizes, including small medical practices, individual providers, hospitals, assisted living facilities, nursing homes, covered entities, business associates, and sub-contractor business associates.
  • Assisted a substance use disorder treatment provider at a formal hearing to obtain a decision that it did not cause the death or neglect of a patient.
  • Secured a court order for organ donation that resulted in four life-saving transplants.
  • Represented a client that obtained a ruling that the Certificate of Public Need law in Virginia does not apply to certain residential substance use disorder treatment facilities and certain detox programs.
  • Coordinated with a county attorney, sheriff’s office, and hospital counsel to arrange for a court order to proceed with organ donation by an unclaimed patient that resulted in two life-saving transplants.
  • Assisted a nursing education program to respond to a student complaint and obtained case closure based on written responses without the need for a hearing.
  • Serves on multiple hospital ethics committees on a pro bono basis. Work has included three successful petitions for court-ordered treatment for minors.
  • Assisted a nursing education program from the complaint phase through a Formal Hearing. Helped the client obtain complete dismissal of allegations of fraud with respect to student records.