With more than 20 years of in-house experience in the health care sector, James J. Wankmiller focuses his practice on working with health care providers, particularly those in the senior care industry. He assists clients in handling regulatory compliance, employment, corporate and transactional matters.

Jim has successfully represented companies in fraud and abuse investigations and adversary proceedings at both the federal and state levels. Representing long-term care facilities in the survey and certification process, Jim has been involved with overseeing the survey process, developing plans of correction and filing appeals. He has also handled HIPAA privacy issues. In addition, he has provided counsel on contracting with managed care organizations and has designed and implemented policies and procedures for the Patient Self-Determination Act and termination of treatment directives.

Prior to joining Buchanan, Jim served as the senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary for Genesis Health Ventures, Inc., a public company that provides health care and support services to the elderly. His duties included providing legal counsel to the board of directors and senior management, advising them on corporate governance matters, guiding them in the planning and implementation of strategic initiatives, and developing and implementing the company's corporate compliance program. Jim was also previously the vice president of law and human resources for a regional long-term care provider, and before that, he practiced with a leading labor and employment law boutique.

At the corporate level, Jim has drafted many business contracts, including leases, agreements of sale, purchase and supply agreements and customer and provider contracts. His experience also extends to handling real estate transactions, such as negotiating listing agreements, agreements of sale and other closing documentation. He has also served as a labor negotiator in contract negotiations and has conducted labor arbitrations before the American Arbitration Association and the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service.

Jim has served on the various legal committees of national and state trade associations, including the American and Pennsylvania Health Care Associations. In addition to his work with the committees, he has lectured on various health care and labor relations topics to management groups and has served as a guest speaker at the Widener University School of Management. He has written several employee handbooks and workplace policy manuals and provided training workshops for employees and management.