Role Description Lifekind Health is building its compliance program and is seeking an experienced healthcare regulatory and compliance consultant for a focused, six-month engagement. The organization has grown quickly — including a recent acquisition of eight Arizona clinics — and now needs a dedicated expert to assess the current state, surface and prioritize risk, and help stand up the systems that keep the organization compliant going forward. This is a remote engagement, but it is a hands-on, embedded one — not a desk-advisory role. The consultant works directly with people in each department (billing, front desk/scheduling, HR, clinic managers, IT, and the acquired-clinic leads) over Teams, phone, screen-share, and email, pulls and tests real records and data, drives remediation, and leaves behind durable infrastructure a lean internal team can operate. The Mindset We're Looking For - Solutions-oriented: Identify compliant paths to business goals rather than just flagging problems. - Business-literate: Understand compliance as a means for confident operation, weighing practical impact, cost, and speed alongside risk. - Pragmatic about risk: Distinguish real exposure from theoretical risk to help leadership make informed decisions. - Clear and candid: Explain the "why" in plain language to non-lawyers and provide straightforward advice. Scope of Work The engagement runs in three overlapping phases over roughly six months. All work is performed remotely, but this is embedded, hands-on work — the consultant is in the systems and on calls with the people who actually do the work, not reviewing documents from a distance. The consultant works alongside in-house counsel and in coordination with outside counsel. - Phase 1 — Assess (≈ Months 1–2): - Meet directly with billing, front desk/scheduling, HR, clinic managers, IT, and acquired-clinic leads over Teams, video, and phone. - Pull and test real records and data against governing rules using a defensible sampling method. - Press hardest on the eight newly acquired Arizona clinics, interviewing their people and testing their records directly. - Score and prioritize findings into a ranked risk register and flag any time-sensitive findings to counsel immediately. - Phase 2 — Remediate & Prioritize (≈ Months 2–4): - Work the prioritized register hands-on with internal owners to correct processes and implement controls. - Develop practical, compliant options for each significant issue to facilitate quick leadership decisions. - Draft or revise foundational policies and procedures needed to close priority gaps. - Run live exclusion screening and spot-checks during this phase. - Phase 3 — Build the Durable System (≈ Months 4–6): - Stand up ongoing monitoring and auditing machinery, including an audit calendar and recurring monitoring routines. - Develop and/or personally deliver role-appropriate training to staff, confirming completion. - Walk the internal team through a transition package live. Qualifications - Substantial healthcare regulatory compliance experience, ideally including building or significantly maturing a compliance program. - Working knowledge of the federal framework: Anti-Kickback Statute, Stark/physician self-referral, False Claims Act, Medicare/Medicaid requirements, exclusion screening, and OIG compliance-program guidance. - Familiarity with practical compliance issues of multi-site outpatient operations and post-acquisition integration. - Demonstrated ability to perform hands-on work directly — pulling and testing samples, running audits, conducting interviews and walkthroughs, and executing fixes. - Proven ability to work effectively as an embedded remote resource, driving work and building relationships across departments. Requirements - Direct California and/or Arizona healthcare regulatory experience, and comfort flagging material CA/AZ differences. - Experience with ambulatory surgery centers, clinical research compliance, and/or health-tech/EMR contexts. - Relevant credentials (e.g., CHC / CHPC / CHRC or equivalent), or comparable demonstrated expertise. - Experience working alongside outside counsel within an attorney-directed, privilege-aware workflow. Working Relationship & Engagement Terms - Independent contractor (1099). - Project-based consultant. Not an employment relationship; no employee benefits. - Remote work with no required on-site presence; availability during business hours across Pacific/Mountain time zones. - Assessment and analysis coordinated with in-house and outside counsel, following confidentiality and privilege protocols. - Handles sensitive organizational and patient information; will execute appropriate confidentiality agreements. - Specific milestones, fees, and acceptance criteria set out separately.