Karen Owens

Practice Areas

- Health Care Law

Career

Karen Owens represents health care systems, hospitals, clinics, other providers, and managed care organizations in matters of quality management, medical staff credentialing and peer review, medical staff structures, bylaws, and confidentiality, as well as National Practitioner Data Bank, state professional board, and other government reporting.

Karen regularly assists health care providers with state licensure and Medicare certification, survey compliance, EMTALA compliance, patient consent, end-of-life, and many other regulatory matters touching clinical operations.

She advises health care clients in antitrust, contracting, negligent credentialing, and other disputes related to hospital/medical staff relationships. She has substantial experience handling contested matters before administrative bodies, including hospital, surgery center, and managed care peer review panels, Medicare QIOs, and many state professional boards, and when possible, resolving such matters short of hearing. Karen also regularly works with the firm’s litigators on litigation involving credentialing and peer review, patient consent, end-of-life, and other clinically related issues. Karen spends each spring immersed in state legislative issues affecting providers. In all these areas, Karen works with a wide range of providers, including urban, academic, community, and rural hospitals, clinician practices, outpatient clinics, and surgery centers, as well as managed care organizations. Karen is recognized by Chambers, Best Lawyers©, and Southwest Super Lawyers© for her work in health law.

Professional Memberships

- Member, American Health Lawyers Association and American Bar Association Health Law Section (1984 – present)

- Member, Board of Directors, Arizona Society of Healthcare Attorneys (2013 – present, 1992 – 1996), Programming Co-Coordinator (2022 – present)

- Co-founder, Arizona Association of Healthcare Lawyers (now Arizona Society of Healthcare Attorneys)

- Member, Governance Board, Jewish Family and Children’s Service of Phoenix (2018 – present)

- Member, John P. Frank Memorial Lecture Advisory Committee, Arizona State University (2009 – present)

- Member, Board of Trustees, Temple Solel, Paradise Valley, Arizona (2006 – 2014)

Publications

- Co-presenter, “Arizona Reproductive Rights Update,” Arizona Society of Healthcare Attorneys (Apr. 23, 2025) and co-author, blog post (June 2025)

- Co-presenter, 3-part EMTALA program: “Part 1: EMTALA, The Basics,” “Part 2: Special EMTALA Issues,” and “Part 3, EMTALA, The Enforcement Process,” Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association (May 16, June 26, and August 22, 2024)

- Commenter, “Patient Termination Requires Right Steps, Good Documentation,” Healthcare Risk Management (July 1, 2024)

- Presenter, “Rules around transgender patient care and how organizations can be more welcoming for transgender individuals,” AAPC and the American Health Lawyers Association’s 2023 Collaborative Compliance Conference (Nov. 2023)

- Presenter, “Hospital Reporting Obligations: National Practitioner Data Bank, Arizona Medical/Osteopathic Boards,” Hospital Medical Staff retreat (Sept. 17, 2023)

- Presenter, “The 3-Year Credentialing Cycle,” Arizona Association of Medical Staff Services Fall Conference (Aug. 18, 2023)

- Presenter, “The End of Roe: Understanding the Legal Implications for Patients and Providers,” Arizona Society of Healthcare Attorneys, Arizona Health Law Conference (Feb. 24, 2023)

- Presenter, “Arizona Health Law Annual Review” Arizona Society of Healthcare Attorneys, Arizona Health Law Conference (Feb. 24, 2023)

- Editor, EMTALA MANUAL – 2022 EDITION, Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association (2022)

- Co-author and editor, CONSENT MANUAL, Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association (2020, 2014, and 2009 editions)

- Author, “New Peer Review Decisions Confirm Basic Principles and Answer Some Questions,” Arizona Society of Healthcare Attorneys (April 12, 2022)

- Author, “Update on the Status of the Section 1557 Health Care Non-Discrimination Regulations,” Arizona Society of Healthcare Attorneys (Oct. 7, 2021)

- Co-presenter, “Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act: What Health Care Lawyers Need to Know,” Arizona Society of Healthcare Attorneys (Aug. 17, 2021)

- Commenter, “Best Practices for Recruiting Peer Review Committee Members,” Hospital Peer Review (Mar. 1, 2021)

- Commenter, “Making Sense of It All: Business, the Law and COVID-19,” In Business (Feb. 2021)

Personal

When not problem solving for health care clients, Karen indulges in a variety of interests ranging from watching women’s basketball to reading about ancient Roman history to all things Beatles.