Annie Chang Lee

Partner
Annie advises hospitals and their medical staffs, medical foundations, ambulatory surgery centers, and public health plans with an emphasis on patient safety and peer review, quality, and regulatory matters.
Annie Chang Lee, Associate at Arent Fox

Annie is an experienced health care advisor and litigator. She regularly represents hospitals, medical staffs, medical foundations, ambulatory surgery centers, and health plans in matters relating to peer review from start to finish - from the initial recommended action, to the peer review hearing, to the appeal to the governing body, and to the Writ of Mandate in court.

Annie is a frequent speaker at various seminars, and in particular, she is the emerging expert on physician well-being committees and physician wellness issues. She presented on physician well-being and burnout at ArentFox Schiff’s Medical Staff Conference in April 2022, April 2023, and April 2024, and she also presented on this topic to the L.A. County Bar Association’s (LACBA) Health Section in June 2022. In September 2022, she was invited by the Chicago Medical Society and the American Bar Association to speak on a physician well-being panel. In October 2022, Annie spoke at the California Society of Healthcare Attorneys about legal issues surrounding physician well-being and wellness. In May 2024, she has been invited to speak again at the California Society of Healthcare Attorneys about physician well-being and burnout.

Annie regularly counsels clients on NPDB and Business and Professions Code 805 Reports, physician credentialing, peer review hearing procedures, state licensing, Medicare certification, Joint Commission accreditation, and EMTALA (the federal law prohibiting “patient-dumping”). Annie also drafts and revises medical staff bylaws, rules & regulations, and provider services agreements. Annie helps clients respond to Medical Board subpoenas in relation to 805 Reports – she has responded to over 150 Medical Board subpoenas (and counting).

Previous Work

Prior to joining ArentFox Schiff, Annie worked at a boutique health care law firm in Southern California focusing on complex civil litigation cases involving health care provider contracts and reimbursement issues. Annie represented major health care providers in state and federal civil actions, arbitrations, mediations, and settlement negotiations.

She litigated issues such as the interpretation of California's Knox-Keene Act, ERISA, the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, the Affordable Care Act, California's Business & Professions Code § 17200, third party liability claims, provider actions under the Hospital Lien Act, the Government Tort Claims Act, as well as general contract and business disputes.   

Prior to that, Annie was a post-bar law clerk at the California Attorney General's Office. During law school, Annie was the Executive Editor of the San Diego Law Review, a Legal Writing teaching assistant, and a legal research assistant for law professors. She was also a judicial extern for the Honorable Michael M. Anello in the Southern District of California, and was a law clerk at both the US Attorney's Office in the Southern District of California, and the US Department of State in Washington, DC.

Boards, Memberships & Certifications

Boards

  • National Health Law Program Board of Ambassadors

Memberships

  • American Bar Association
  • American Health Lawyers Association
  • California Society of Health Care Attorneys

Publications, Presentations & Recognitions

Annie’s articles, publications, presentations, and recognitions include:

  • Presenter, California Society for Healthcare Attorneys 2024 Spring Seminar, “Physician Wellness and Well-Being: Legal Considerations,” Lake Tahoe, May 2024
  • Presenter, California Association of Medical Staff Services, Education Conference, “How to Handle the Most Difficult Applicants,” San Diego, June 2024
  • Presenter, California Association of Medical Staff Services, Education Conference, “Ambulatory Surgery Centers 101” and “When Medical Staff and HR Have Concerns About a Shared Practitioner,” Disneyland, June 2023
  • Presenter, California Society for Healthcare Attorneys 2022 Fall Seminar, October 2022
  • Presenter, Physicians Legal Issues: Healthcare Delivery & Innovation Conference, September 2022
  • Presenter, Los Angeles California Bar Association, “Physician Well-Being and Burnout,” Webinar, June 16, 2022
  • Presenter, California Association of Medical Staff Services Long Beach Chapter, Education Conference, October 2020
  • “If At First You Don’t Succeed: After Years of Rejection, California Nurse Practitioners Have a Path to Independent Practice,” Health Care Counsel Blog, October 2, 2020, co-authored with Sarah G. Benator and Susanna Murphy
  • Presenter, Medical Staff Leaders and the Law Seminar, February 3, 2017 (Costa Mesa, CA)
  • Presenter, California Association of Medical Staff Services Long Beach Chapter, 18th Annual Education Conference, October 14, 2016 (Torrance, CA)
  • “The Broadening Definition of Elder Abuse," California Healthcare News; October 11, 2016
  • Presenter, Medical Staff Leaders and the Law Seminar, February 5, 2016 (Costa Mesa, CA)
  • "CMS Finalizes Quality Assessment and Performance Improvement (QAPI) Worksheets," California Healthcare News; January 7, 2016
  • Presenter, California Association of Medical Staff Services Long Beach Chapter 17th Annual Education Conference, October 16, 2015 (Torrance, CA)
  • The Legal 500 - Health Care: Service Providers

Life Beyond the Law

Annie is an “I Love Lucy” fanatic and loves exploring new places with her two young children and husband. She is an amateur screenwriter and hopes to be cast in a local play someday.

Perspectives

Awards

The Legal 500 – The Clients Guide to Law Firms