Amy J. Dilcher

Amy Dilcher is a partner in the Corporate Practice Group in the firm's Washington D.C. office and serves as Co-Chair of the Women in Healthcare Leadership Collaborative (WHLC).

Areas of Practice

With over 25 years of experience in the healthcare industry, including roles as General Counsel and a clinical background as an oncology nurse, Amy offers a unique blend of legal expertise and clinical insight. Her dual understanding of both the clinical and legal aspects of healthcare enables her to provide practical, tailored solutions that balance business goals with regulatory compliance.

Amy partners with healthcare organizations to confidently navigate complex challenges and achieve strategic objectives. Her expertise spans across:

• Strategic affiliations and mergers
• Hospital and physician transactions
• Complex regulatory issues and compliance
• Operational risk management and compliance
• Post-transaction integration and alignment

Having served as Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel for both nonprofit hospitals and private equity-backed healthcare organizations, Amy brings deep experience in:

• Assessing strategic business opportunities
• Evaluating and mitigating regulatory compliance risks
• Optimizing operational efficiencies
• Enhancing legal processes and organizational performance
• Designing cost-effective, actionable solutions
• Facilitating smooth post-transaction integration

Amy specializes in structuring complex healthcare transactions, managing legal risks during critical phases, and ensuring seamless compliance integration. She provides expert guidance on:

• Structuring and negotiating healthcare transactions
• Managing post-transaction legal and regulatory risks
• Designing and implementing compliance programs
• Delivering ongoing legal and compliance support
• Building and optimizing legal operations

Beyond her transactional and compliance practice, Amy helps clients transform and optimize their legal operations. As a Yellow Belt in Legal Process Improvement and Project Management from Legal Lean Sigma, she brings proven skills in:

• Advancing the sophistication and efficiency of corporate legal departments
• Benchmarking legal services against leading industry standards
• Promoting increased productivity and organizational transparency
• Controlling legal costs while accelerating turnaround times
• Enhancing interdepartmental collaboration
• Implementing efficient and effective workflow processes

Amy is dedicated to helping healthcare organizations build high-performing legal functions. If you need experienced healthcare counsel to navigate complex legal and regulatory environments, Amy delivers practical, strategic guidance focused on achieving lasting success.

Experience

Healthcare Transactions

• Strategic Acquisitions & Partnerships
  • Represented Ascension Health in a major strategic agreement to acquire AMSURG.
  • Represented Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) in its strategic partnership with Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE: ELV).
  • Advised US Digestive Health, a leading gastroenterology platform, in its partnership with Blair Gastroenterology Associates.
  • Supported PT Solutions, a General Atlantic portfolio company, in regulatory compliance matters related to its acquisition of ActivePro Rehab Partners, covering healthcare fraud, HIPAA, and data privacy.
  • Represented VillageMD in its acquisition of Summit Health-CityMD, expanding primary, specialty, and urgent care services.
• Regulatory Due Diligence & Investments
  • Led regulatory diligence in the acquisition of a leading women’s health imaging provider, enabling enhanced access to mammography and related services.
  • Co-led regulatory diligence for a $150M+ minority investment in a global at-home diagnostics company, supporting the acquisition of a preeminent digital pharmacy platform.
  • Managed due diligence and regulatory resolution for the $220M acquisition of a community hospital.*
  • Headed legal review for a $257M advance refunding bond project, delivering recurring annual cost savings of approximately $1M to a non-profit community hospital.*
  • Guided transactions for a sponsor-backed physician management company including over $40M in affiliation arrangements across new states within nine months, and a transformative combination transaction creating the largest specialty management services organization in the U.S.*

General Counsel Support & Legal Operations

• Interim & Board Counsel Roles
  • Served as interim general counsel for a $2B publicly traded management service organization driving value-based healthcare with primary care physicians.
  • Acted as interim general counsel for an outpatient clinic services organization with 30+ locations, managing all aspects of post-closing legal and compliance integration.
  • Board and committee legal advisor for a non-profit hospital and several sponsor-backed physician management companies, providing strategic guidance on governance, compliance and risk matters.*
• Healthcare Governance & Policy
  • Established key board committees and compliance programs for a non-profit hospital and several sponsor-backed physician management companies, including performing baseline compliance risk assessments.*
  • Collaborated with medical staff leadership at a non-profit community hospital to implement key bylaw revisions, including expanded suspension authority, consolidated membership categories, and refined clinical privileges to enhance physician engagement, specialty coverage, and coordination between the Medical Executive Committee and Board of Directors.*
• Contracting & Legal Operations
  • Implemented streamlined legal intake and tracking systems for a physician management company, reducing contract turnaround times for physician employment agreements by 93%.*
  • Led improvements in physician, vendor, and real estate contract management for a non-profit hospital system, implementing centralized processes and standardized agreements, reducing contract turnaround times to under five (5) days.*
  • Oversaw the insurance program for a physician management company, successfully managing claims and reducing professional board matter closures without penalties by 98%. Achieved significant fee recovery from insurance carriers.*
  • Managed provider compensation models and alignment strategies for a non-profit hospital system to support recruitment, retention, and compliance.*

*Experience prior to joining Sheppard Mullin

Articles

Healthcare Law Blog Posts

• "Immigration Enforcement and Healthcare Facilities: Key Considerations for Providers," April 2, 2025

• "Attention Maryland Providers: Are You Availing Yourselves of Regulatory Flexibilities under the TCOC Model?" August 22, 2024

• "SCOTUS Punts on EMTALA Preemption Question," July 19, 2024

• "EMTALA: In the Spotlight," June 3, 2024
• "HHS & DOJ FY 2022 Enforcement Targeted Fraud in COVID-19, Telemedicine, Opioid and Prescription Drugs, and Substance Use Treatment Centers, Among Other Initiatives," December 1, 2023
• "Fifth Circuit Rules to Reinstate Abortion Pill Restrictions," August 17, 2023

• "Access to Abortion Pill on the Precipice: A Deep Dive into the Federal Court Rulings that will Decide the Fate of Mifepristone," June 15, 2023

• "EMTALA and Pregnancy Care Remains a Federal Enforcement Priority," May 17, 2023

• "OIG 2022 Advisory Opinions: Year in Review," May 8, 2023
• "Access to Abortion Pill in Limbo: Navigating the Intricacies of Conflicting Federal Court Rulings in Texas and Washington State," April 14, 2023

• "Tracking the Waivers: Implications of the Wind Down of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency," March 14, 2023

• "CMS’s Administrative Simplification Rule Aims to Increase Efficiency and Standardization for Health Care Attachments," March 7, 2023
• "CMS Streamlines Stark Law Self-Referral Disclosure Protocol (SRDP)," March 2, 2023

• "ICYMI: HIPAA and Social Media IRL," February 8, 2023

• "Finding Our Way Out of the Pandemic Haze: What Telehealth Tools Are Medicare Providers Allowed to Keep, and Which Must They Leave Behind?," November 30, 2022
• "Part 2: An Update on the Federal and State E-Roe-sion or P-Roe-tection of Abortion Rights," November 16, 2022
• "An Update on the Federal and State E-Roe-sion or P-Roe-tection of Abortion Rights," October 12, 2022
• "The FemTech Revolution," October 11, 2022 

• "EMTALA in the Post-Dobbs World," September 13, 2022
• "OIG Issues Favorable Advisory Opinion For Federally Qualified Health Center’s Smartphone Loan Program," August 11, 2022
• "New Population-Based Option for the Maryland Primary Care Program in 2023," July 8, 2022
• "7 Things to Know About the New AdvaMed Code Updates," April 13, 2022

Media Mentions

Events

Digital Media