Denise Leard draws from her 30 plus years of diverse legal experience to contribute to the Healthcare Group at Brown & Fortunato. Denise advises clients on compliance with federal and state laws that impact the healthcare industry in all areas of health law. One of Denise’s favorite roles is assisting the firm’s healthcare clients with compliance issues and providing preventative education. She is frequently involved in the appeal of Medicare overpayment demands or denial requests where she plays a key role in guiding clients through the administrative appeals process. Denise has successfully defended extrapolated audits at the redetermination and reconsideration levels, avoiding the need to continue to an administrative law judge level. She enjoys assisting her clients with the resolution of complex regulatory issues of all types, including fraud and abuse analysis, appeals, enrollment, accreditation and general compliance, just to name a few.

Denise is a frequent speaker at professional and trade conferences including state, regional, and national conferences on many topics including audits, appeals, and general healthcare issues affecting the firm’s clients. Denise has presented programs to attorneys and compliance officers at the Healthcare Compliance Association’s Compliance Institute. In addition, she has authored numerous articles covering a variety of health law topics and can be found in publications such as Homecare Magazine, HME News, and Compliance Today. She is on the Board of Commissioners for the Accreditation Commission for Healthcare where she holds the position of Immediate Past Chair. She is also part of the National Supplier Clearinghouse Advisory Committee where she advocates on behalf of suppliers with the National Provider Enrollment contractors.

Denise is married to Charles. They have five children and four grandchildren. Denise has always been physically active. She is a former All-American Collegiate swimmer. She has competed in triathlons, including the completion of a full Ironman event. She previously held the position of Head Swim Coach for the middle and high school students at Ascension Academy. These days you can often find her on a tennis court, working in her garden, or spending time with her children and grandchildren.

Practice Areas:

Healthcare