Manatt Adds Seasoned Physician and Researcher to Expanding Health Care Group in D.C.

Senior Advisor Amy Salerno adds to firm’s integrated legal and consulting health care capabilities, bringing significant clinical, financial and policy experience through work with leading health system

Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP, a multidisciplinary, integrated professional services firm, announced today that Senior Advisor Amy Salerno has joined its Manatt Health Group in Washington, D.C. Salerno comes to the firm from the University of Virginia (UVA), where she has served as Assistant Professor in the Departments of Medicine and Public Health Sciences, Medical Director of the UVA Student and Employee Health Wise Clinic, and Director of Community Health and Well-Being for UVA Health.

“We are thrilled to welcome Amy as the latest arrival in our rapidly expanding team, and she will be a natural fit for our industry-leading health care Group, which works with clients across all corners of the industry on matters at the intersection of law, policy and business strategy,” said Donna L. Wilson, Manatt’s CEO and Managing Partner. “Her commitment to being an agent of change in her community and within the industry, as a physician, a researcher and an educator, embodies who we are at Manatt, making Amy a great addition to our integrated legal and consulting platform.”

Through her career in medicine, Salerno has extensive experience working on innovative care management models and community and population health issues from an operational, financial and policy perspective. She also brings a sophisticated understanding of using data to map health outcomes, and financial data to plan investments in communities and neighborhoods aligned with strategic health system initiatives. She will tap into her background to advise academic medical centers and other providers as they design systems to improve care management through policy and program development. Additionally, she will work with clients on quality measure development, health care payment models, and program development around social drivers of health and community health workers.

“As academic medical centers and other health systems continue to navigate the industry’s rapid transformation, it is important for them to integrate innovative care management efforts into their broader strategic plans in order to improve health outcomes in their communities,” said Bill Bernstein, leader of Manatt Health. “Amy’s work at UVA has given her firsthand knowledge and practical experience in how to operationalize and finance these complex programs, which will be invaluable to our clients.”

As Director of Community Health and Well-Being for UVA Health, Salerno led strategic plan development, data analysis and program development for the health system’s investment in community health and well-being. In that role, she led key initiatives, including designing a community health worker program in partnership with a local free clinic and federally qualified health center, developing a comprehensive program for addressing social drivers of health in partnership with community-based organizations—including the use of artificial intelligence and data integration in the electronic health record system—and launching a community call line for community members without a primary care provider to receive telephone-based nonemergent care and clinical advice as appropriate from UVA Health primary care providers.

Salerno has also led various COVID-19-related efforts that underscore her commitment to improving health outcomes. These initiatives include implementing a comprehensive program for walk-up testing in locations accessible to under-resourced communities most at risk for adverse outcomes; partnering with UVA Telehealth to expand telehealth opportunities during the pandemic to homeless shelters, a local regional jail and increased access in the Virginia prison system; and partnering with local organizations to implement vaccination clinics in disproportionately affected communities.

”Throughout my career, I have admired not only Manatt’s dedication to educating the broader health care industry about the importance of improving drivers of health and increasing access to care, but also its work with providers, payors, states and foundations as they make impactful changes to better meet the needs of their respective communities,” said Salerno. “I’m excited to work alongside such a talented group of lawyers, consultants and physicians who are as passionate as I am about designing and implementing systems to improve health outcomes.”

Salerno is the latest addition to Manatt’s strategically expanding roster of health care legal and business consulting professionals. She joins recent arrivals such as health care and civil litigation Partner Megan Thibert-Ind, antitrust and litigation Partner Steve Libowsky, former New York State Department of Health Director Tracy F. Raleigh, former CEO and COO of New York Health + Hospitals/Harlem Eboné M. Carrington, D.C.-based health care professionals Linda Elam and Blair M. Cantfil, President Emeritus of the Association of American Medical Colleges Dr. Darrell G. Kirch, and health care attorney Brian D. Bewley. The Group also recently announced the expansion and rebrand of its premium health care information service, Manatt on Health: Insights You Trust, which distills the latest legal, policy and market-based developments on the issues that matter most to health industry stakeholders.

Salerno received her M.H.S. from Yale University, her M.D. from University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and her B.S. from Case Western Reserve University.

About Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP

Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP, is a leading professional services firm, providing integrated legal and consulting services to a global client base. With offices strategically located in California (Los Angeles, Orange County, Palo Alto, San Francisco and Sacramento), New York (New York City and Albany), Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Boston, the firm represents sophisticated clients — including Fortune 500, middle-market and emerging companies — across a range of industry sectors such as health care; financial services; entertainment; digital and technology; and energy, environmental and real estate. For more information, visit www.manatt.com.

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