Ann Margaret Bittinger

Ann M. Bittinger specializes in advising healthcare entities in their business transactions and in assisting physicians as they offboard one job and onboard to another.  Her particular expertise is in legal relationships between hospital systems and physicians or physician groups, such as co-management agreements, joint ventures, clinical integration arrangements, practice acquisitions and employment agreements.  Her clients include all types of entities and individuals in the healthcare industry: health systems, physician groups, physicians, a physician-hospital organization, laboratories, pharmacies, distributors and other practitioners.  Board certified by The Florida Bar in health law in 2006, she is in particular demand from companies located outside Florida that are expanding their businesses into Florida.  She has serviced client companies headquartered in Dallas, Nashville, Boston, New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles and London, U.K.

In May 2014, Ann was elected to the American Health Lawyers Association Board of Directors to serve a three year term and was reappointed for a second term.  She is the only attorney in private practice in Florida to ever serve on the Board.  She has presented at a dozen AHLA in-person seminars and webinars on healthcare transactions and legal ethics issues.

Ann works only in the healthcare industry, focusing all her time on her health care clients' needs.

Ann is evaluated by her peers as a “preeminent” attorney, and awarded the “AV” rating by Martindale-Hubbell. The “AV” rating identifies a lawyer with preeminent expertise, experience, integrity, and overall professional excellence.

Ann is dedicated to Northeast Florida and its healthcare community.  A resident of Jacksonville, her local business leadership was highlighted in 2005 when the Jacksonville Business Journal named her one of Jacksonville’s top Up and Comers. She is a member of the Leadership Jacksonville Class of 2008. In 2011, she was named a Rising Star by Super Lawyers and in 2006 was named a top up and coming attorney by Florida Trend magazine.  She formerly served as a board member of Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies.  She was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Jacksonville Public Library Foundation.

She lectures frequently on health law matters for local, state and national groups including the American Bar Association and American Health Lawyers Association. From 2010-2012 she was the Chair of the Physician Practice Group of the American Health Lawyers Association. She also edited that Group’s national newsletter. She also served on the Executive Committee of the Health Law Section of The Florida Bar.  She chaired the health law section of the Jacksonville Bar Association for two years.

Ann has drafted articles for the last six annual editions of the Health Law Handbook, published by Westlaw.  Contributors are well-respected healthcare attorneys from across the nation.  Her chapters include:  “The Boomerang Effect of Hospital/Physician Integration: Approaching Medical Practice Sales with an Eye on a Future Unwind, ”Operating in the Red: Important Lessons on Physician Employment Compensation by Hospitals Anticipating Referrals, and the latest chapter will address the whistleblower case from Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach.  She also wrote the chapter in the AHLA’s Representing Physician Handbook on hospital-based physician groups’ contracts with hospital systems.

She is licensed to practice law in Florida, Missouri and Kansas.  Ann graduated from the University of Kansas School of Law, where she earned the prestigious position of editor-in-chief of the law review. Upon graduation, she worked for law firms in Kansas City, Missouri, practicing transactional and regulatory law for business and health care clients. In 2001 she was hired by Nemours as its health law attorney in its Jacksonville headquarters. Identifying a need for health care attorneys in Northeast Florida, she started her firm in 2004. Raised in an entrepreneurial family, she most enjoys representing new businesses and businesses in growth phases.