Heather Bates provides consulting and analytical services to healthcare and life sciences clients and their counsel regarding economic, regulatory, damages, and discovery issues.
Her capabilities relate to developing analyses to answer complex questions based on a detailed understanding of healthcare pricing, claims, reimbursements, and related financial systems and data.
Ms. Bates has been retained by pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device manufacturers, durable medical equipment (DME) providers, physician and outpatient service providers, pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), and other payors facing compliance issues, litigation, disputes, federal and state investigations, regulatory change, and other business challenges. She has significant experience in the areas of pharmaceutical pricing, sales, rebates, marketing, and financial reporting, Medicare and Medicaid billing and reimbursement, regulatory compliance, the False Claims Act, anti-kickback laws, state consumer protection statutes, product liability, and commercial contract disputes. Ms. Bates regularly assists clients facing significant discovery demands in private disputes and government investigations and leverages efficient processes for identifying, collecting, and producing relevant information in coordination with counsel.
Ms. Bates uses structured and unstructured data to assess allegations of fraud, noncompliance with federal and state regulations and commercial contracts, antitrust and anticompetitive activity, and other business conflicts. She develops models that incorporate sales, rebates, profit and marketing data, medical and pharmaceutical claims data, public healthcare utilization and cost data, Medicare and Medicaid data, and third-party vendor data. She also develops statistical approaches to testing theories of liability, drawing representative samples, and estimating potential exposure. Her data analyses and models inform healthcare clients and their counsel regarding allegations and potential damages, allowing them to make data-driven decisions in the face of complex disputes and investigations. She has also been qualified as an expert witness and has provided testimony in depositions and hearings.
Ms. Bates has over twenty years of consulting experience in the healthcare and life sciences industries. She is also BRG’s Industries & Special Practices co-lead; managing partner of BRG’s largest office, Washington, DC; and a member of the firm’s Leadership Council.
