Unique Experience
Unique Experience you can Trust
Ms. De Simone brings a unique, real-world flavor to her business practices due to her vast experience in the corporate and litigation arena as a former associate counsel for a large healthcare system, her prior lead counsel experience in cases involving civil rights, toxic tort, environmental law and medical malpractice, in addition to her nursing administration, staff development, clinical nurse specialist and family nurse practitioner experience.
Ms. De Simone has represented state agencies, and continues to represent large corporations, and healthcare corporations in Florida and Oklahoma. She is licensed to practice law in Florida and Oklahoma, U.S. District Courts (Northern, Eastern and Western Oklahoma), U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court. She is the proud recipient of the Elaine Osborne Jacobson Award for Women in Health Care Law from the Roscoe Pound Foundation and American Trial Lawyers Association.
In addition to a Law degree & Health Law Certificate, she holds a Masters of Science in Nursing as a Clinical Nurse Specialist from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, and a Family Nurse Practitioner Post Masters from The George Washington University in Washington, DC. Ms. De Simone is also a national speaker on a variety of nursing and legal issues.
Real World Experience-Cases & Clients
Class Action - Defended the State of Oklahoma in Alleged Civil Rights Violations.
Medical Malpractice - Represented Health Care Corporations & Health Care Professionals, obtaining numerous summary judgments and Defense verdicts of Medical Malpractice claims.
Health Law - Former Associate Corporate Counsel for a large health care corporation. Currently Represents Health Care companies and organizations in health law matters; HIPAA Compliance, Risk Analysis and Risk Management.
Civil Litigation – Trial Consultant on Complex Litigation.
Experienced Attorney
Not only is Ms. De Simone a Nurse Attorney, she is also a dual certified Advanced Practice Registered Nurse; Clinical Nurse Specialist (APRN-CNS), and Family Nurse Practitioner (APRN-CNP), and is Board Certified in Pediatrics and Family Practice, in addition to being an Attorney in private practice in Oklahoma, where she practices healthcare law, and e-discovery. Ms. De Simone is also licensed to practice Law in Florida. She is also a health care consultant.
About Us
Attorney Admissions & Education
ATTORNEY ADMISSIONS
Supreme Court of Oklahoma
Supreme Court of Florida
United States District Courts (Western, Northern, & Eastern District)
United States Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals
United States Supreme Court
EDUCATION
Juris Doctor, (J.D.)
University of Tulsa College of Law, Tulsa, OK
Health Law Certificate
Master of Science in Nursing, (MS)
University of Oklahoma Health Science Center,
Clinical Nurse Specialist APRN-CNS
Graduate Nurse of the Year Award
Post Masters in Family Nurse Practitioner APRN-FNP
The George Washington University
Washington, DC
Professional Honors
Elaine Osborne Jacobson Award for Women in Healthcare Law from the Roscoe Pound Foundation; American Trial Lawyers Association, currently AAJ
National Speaker & Author
Ms De Simone presented “HIPAA, Social Media, Data Breaches & The Nurse- A New Malpractice Worry!”
at The American Association of Nurse Attorneys 2018 Annual Conference in Denver, Colorado.
Ms. De Simone recently published:
De Simone, D.M. (2019). Data breaches are not just information technology worries! Pediatric Nursing, 45(2), 59-62.
A data breach of protected health information can be a costly problem, not only for a healthcare corporation, but also for the healthcare provider. A data breach of protected patient information involves the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). And a HIPAA breach can incur monetary penalties, loss of a nursing license, employment termination, prison time, and now, the exposure of a new cause of action – a lawsuit.
De Simone, D.M. (2019). When is Accessing Medical Records a HIPAA Breach. Journal of Nursing Regulation, 10(3), 34-36.
Recently, many hospital workers were terminated for improper or unauthorized access in viewing a celebrity's medical record. The consequences of such unauthorized access can involve more than loss of employment.
And in OCR NEWS: New OCR $2.15 million monetary penalty for HIPAA Compliance Failure. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ocr-imposes-215-million-penalty-hipaa-compliance-de-simone/
Areas of Practice
Health Care Law
ONLY Represents PROFESSIONAL HEALTH CARE CORPORATIONS on Corporate Compliance issues; HIPAA & EMTLA compliance, Risk Management, Fraud & Abuse; Antikickback & Stark analysis. NO REPRESENTATION OF INDIVIDUALS WITH PERCEIVED CLAIMS.
HIPAA Compliance
ONLY Represents health care corporations, covered entities, and business associates with all aspects of HIPAA compliance; privacy & security of Protected Health Information (PHI). Assists clients in risk analysis and assessing vulnerabilities. Develops and implements HIPAA compliant programs and guidelines, conducts audits and internal investigations, responds to alleged breaches. Provides training and education to health care covered entities and business associates. NO REPRESENTATION OF INDIVIDUALS WITH PERCEIVED CLAIMS.
Estate Planning
Wills & Trusts, Power of Attorney, Durable Power of Attorney and Advance Directives in health care.
E-Discovery, ESI
Electronic Discovery Litigation consultant on pre-litigation and litigation aspects of electronically stored information (esi).