Health Law Mini Conference

Date: Friday, June 26, 2026

Time: 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM

Location: Husch Blackwell, 111 Congress Avenue, Suite 1400

Join the Austin Bar Association Health Law Section for an afternoon of comprehensive legal education covering critical updates in privacy, workplace oversight, and hospital operations.

Schedule & Presentations

2:00 PM – 3:00 PM | Protecting Patient Data in the Digital Age: A Primer on Healthcare Privacy & Information Security Law, with Recent Texas Developments

• Presented by: Elizabeth Rogers (Of Counsel, Winstead PC) & Claire Galley (Senior Legal Counsel, Sprinter Health)

• About this session: Privacy and information security issues arise across nearly every area of healthcare law, from transactions and contracting to regulatory compliance and litigation. This primer provides a working overview of the federal and state laws most relevant to health law practice, including HIPAA's Privacy, Security, and Breach Notification Rules. It includes a survey of how selected states have diverged from or built upon federal protections—with a closer look at Texas, including the Texas Medical Records Privacy Act and recent developments under the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act. The session closes with selected recent enforcement trends in Texas and practical signposts for identifying when privacy and security issues warrant closer attention or specialized counsel.

3:00 PM – 4:00 PM | Investigate, Escalate, Govern: What Hospitals Must Know About Workplace Investigations and Board Oversight

• Presented by: Natalie Lynch (Owner/Principal Attorney, Treaty Oak Employers’ Law Group)

• About this session: When a workplace complaint surfaces in a hospital setting, the stakes couldn't be higher—especially for those in compliance roles. The decisions made in those critical first hours can mean the difference between swift resolution and a crisis so profound it creates personal liability. In this session, Natalie R. Lynch—an attorney and the only credentialed third-party workplace investigator in Central Texas—walks health law practitioners through the real-world mechanics of workplace complaints and investigations in hospital and healthcare settings. Using a practical, scenario-based approach, Natalie explores the legal landscape, the investigation process, and the board's critical oversight role.

• Attendees will come away with a practical understanding of:

  • The legal framework governing workplace harassment, retaliation, and hostile work environment claims under Texas and federal law—and how they apply in healthcare settings.

  • The "knew or should have known" standard and its implications for hospital boards and administrators.

  • Strategies for avoiding personal liability.

  • When an internal investigation is sufficient—and when to bring in a credentialed, neutral third party.

  • Why attorneys should refer workplace investigations to an independent investigator—and the risks of handling them in-house.

  • How a proper investigation supports the Ellerth/Faragher affirmative defense.

  • The real cost of skipping the investigation—and the return on investment of getting it right.

4:00 PM – 5:00 PM | Hot Topics in Hospital Operations

• Presented by: Hilary H. Young & Jennifer Claymon of Reed, Claymon, Meeker, Krienke & Spurck, PLLC

• About this session: This session will review some of the current hot topics facing hospitals and their leaders, such as price transparency requirements, workplace violence, emergency detentions, site neutrality, and stressors on rural hospitals.

Husch Blackwell, 111 Congress Avenue, Suite 1400