Healthcare Regulatory & Compliance Consultant

Salary Range: $90,000.00 To $100,000.00 Annually Role Overview Lifekind Health is building its compliance program and is seeking an experienced healthcare regulatory and compliance consultant for a focused, six-month engagement. The organization has grown quickly — including a recent acquisition of eight Arizona clinics — and now needs a dedicated expert to assess the current state, surface and prioritize risk, and help stand up the systems that keep the organization compliant going forward. This is a remote engagement, but it is a hands-on, embedded one — not a desk-advisory role. The consultant works directly with people in each department (billing, front desk/scheduling, HR, clinic managers, IT, and the acquired-clinic leads) over Teams, phone, screen-share, and email, pulls and tests real records and data, drives remediation, and leaves behind durable infrastructure a lean internal team can operate. The Mindset We're Looking For We want a problem-solver. The right consultant starts from our business objectives and asks "how do we get there compliantly?" rather than stopping at "you can't do that." In practice: Solutions-oriented — when an approach raises a legal or regulatory issue, you identify the compliant path to the same business goal (the safe harbor, the alternative structure, the added safeguard), rather than just flagging the problem and walking away. Business-literate — you understand compliance exists to let the organization operate confidently, and you weigh practical impact, cost, and speed alongside risk. Pragmatic about risk — you distinguish real, material exposure from theoretical risk and help leadership make informed decisions instead of defaulting to the most conservative answer on every question. Clear and candid — you explain the "why" in plain language to non-lawyers and give a straight answer about what is and isn't advisable. Scope of Work The engagement runs in three overlapping phases over roughly six months. All work is performed remotely, but this is embedded, hands-on work — the consultant is in the systems and on calls with the people who actually do the work, not reviewing documents from a distance. The consultant works alongside in-house counsel and in coordination with outside counsel. Phase 1 — Assess (≈ Months 1–2) Get into the actual operations: meet directly with billing, front desk/scheduling, HR, clinic managers, IT, and the acquired-clinic leads over Teams, video, and phone, and walk through their real workflows via live screen-share of the EMR, scheduling, and billing systems — not document review alone. Pull and test real records and data (claims, coding documentation, financial-arrangement files, screening logs) against the governing rules using a defensible sampling method, to find what's actually happening and measure real error rates and exposure. Press hardest on the eight newly acquired Arizona clinics, where inherited practices and per-location obligations carry the most uncertainty — interviewing their people and testing their records directly. Score and prioritize findings by likelihood and impact into a ranked risk register that drives the rest of the engagement, and flag any time-sensitive findings to counsel immediately rather than holding them for the final report. Phase 2 — Remediate & Prioritize (≈ Months 2–4) Work the prioritized register hands-on, sitting with the internal owners (remotely) to actually correct processes, close gaps, and implement controls — driving the fixes, not handing over a list of recommendations. For each significant issue, develop practical, compliant options — the route to the business goal, not just the problem — so leadership can decide quickly. Draft or revise the foundational policies and procedures needed to close priority gaps, calibrated to how the organization actually operates (informed by what the Phase 1 walkthroughs revealed). Run live exclusion screening and spot-checks during this phase, establishing the cadence by doing it. Phase 3 — Build the Durable System (≈ Months 4–6) Stand up the ongoing monitoring and auditing machinery: an audit calendar, recurring monitoring routines, an exclusion-screening cadence, and a living risk register, built so a lean internal team can actually run it. Develop and/or personally deliver role-appropriate training to staff (live over video), aligned to current OIG compliance-program expectations, and confirm completion — not just hand over slides. Walk the internal team through a transition package live, so they can operate the program after the engagement ends. Qualifications Required Substantial healthcare regulatory compliance experience, ideally including building or significantly maturing a compliance program. Working knowledge of the federal framework: Anti-Kickback Statute, Stark/physician self-referral, False Claims Act, Medicare/Medicaid requirements, exclusion screening, and OIG compliance-program guidance. Familiarity with the practical compliance issues of multi-site outpatient operations and post-acquisition integration. Demonstrated ability to perform the hands-on work directly — pulling and testing samples, running audits, conducting interviews and walkthroughs, and executing fixes — not just advising or producing memos. Proven ability to work effectively as an embedded remote resource: driving work and building working relationships across departments over Teams, video, and phone, and getting cooperation without being on-site. Strongly preferred Direct California and/or Arizona healthcare regulatory experience, and comfort flagging material CA/AZ differences. Experience with ambulatory surgery centers, clinical research compliance, and/or health-tech/EMR contexts. Relevant credentials (e.g., CHC / CHPC / CHRC or equivalent), or comparable demonstrated expertise. Experience working alongside outside counsel within an attorney-directed, privilege-aware workflow. Working Relationship & Engagement Terms Independent contractor (1099). Project-based consultant. Not an employment relationship; no employee benefits. Remote. All work performed remotely; no required on-site presence. The consultant must be available during business hours across Pacific/Mountain (CA and AZ) time zones for meetings with department staff. Coordination with counsel. Assessment and analysis coordinated with in-house and outside counsel; where work is at counsel's direction, the consultant follows the engagement's confidentiality and privilege protocols. Confidentiality. Handles sensitive organizational and patient information; will execute appropriate confidentiality and, where applicable, business-associate agreements (relevant for remote access to systems containing PHI). Statement of work. Specific milestones, fees, and acceptance criteria set out separately.