Stephen R. Ryan is a Member of the firm and has been practicing law at Miller Johnson since 1987.  He works with hospitals, health systems, physician groups and other medical providers on all issues affecting Revenue Cycle. Mr. Ryan is past chair of the firm’s Litigation Section.

Healthcare Reimbursement

Mr. Ryan is the founder and chair of the firm’s Med Recovery Group.  This practice provides litigation and counseling to medical providers seeking insurance reimbursement on patient accounts.  The Med Recovery Group pursues wrongful denials of hospital claims by third-party payers, including no-fault carriers, health insurance plans, work comp carriers and government plans.  Mr. Ryan’s practice generates revenue for medical providers through litigation and training in:

• No Fault eligibility, coverage, causation and priority disputes under Michigan’s No Fault Insurance Act;
• Health Plan eligibility, coverage, causation and priority issues including pre-authorization disputes, priority disputes, denials for pre-existing conditions, COBRA eligibility, and ERISA preemption;
• Insurance payment issues arising under the No Fault Fee Schedule, the Worker Compensation Fee Schedule, ERISA health plans, HMOs and Government plans including partial payments, mistaken payments, “customary and reasonable” underpayments, third party audits and balance billing issues;
• Contractual issues and audits with Medicare, Medicaid, Tricare, group health plans, managed care entities and No Fault Networks.
• Charging lien or fee claims against hospitals and medical providers from attorneys representing patients in liability claims.

Miller Johnson’s Med Recovery Group assist medical providers:

• Decrease accounts receivables days
• Decrease self-pay accounts and charity and uncollectible write-offs by obtaining payment from insurance sources
• Increase collections and the medical provider’s bottom line by collecting improperly denied claims.

Miller Johnson’s Med Recovery Group routinely seeks and collects interest and attorney fees from carriers for wrongful denials by enforcing state and federal laws requiring prompt payment of claims. Miller Johnson’s Med Recovery Group provides 24/7 live access to all referred account through a secure SharePoint portal.  Miller Johnson’s Med Recovery Group provides training and legal updates to medical provider through Client Alerts, electronic bulletins and training videos.

Miller Johnson’s Med Recovery Group, which Mr. Ryan chairs, has increased collections overall by pursuing improperly denied claims.  In the past 3 years, they have collected more than $100 million in denied charges and over $3.0 million in interest and attorney fees from payers which have denied and delayed payment of claims.

Miller Johnson’s Med Recovery Group provides Revenue Cycle counseling and litigation to the following clients:

• Spectrum Health System (Grand Rapids, MI)
  • Spectrum Continuing Care, Spectrum Health Big Rapids, Spectrum Health Gerber, Spectrum Health Ludington, Spectrum Health Pennock, Spectrum Health Reed City, Spectrum Health United/Kelsey, Spectrum Health Zeeland and Spectrum Health Lakeland
• Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital (Grand Rapids MI)
• Bronson Methodist Hospital (Kalamazoo, MI)
• Covenant Healthcare (Saginaw, MI),
• Henry Ford Health System (Detroit, MI)
• Holland Hospital (Holland, MI),
• Oaklawn Hospital (Marshall, MI)
• University of Michigan-West (Grand Rapids, MI), MI)

Professional Affiliations, Activities, and Honors

Mr. Ryan belongs to the American Bar Association, State Bar of Michigan, and Federal Bar Association.  He is a member of the Grand Rapids Bar Association and formerly served on the Clerkship Committee.  He is a member of the Michigan Health and Hospital Association and American Hospital Lawyers Association where he is a member of HMOs and Health Plans Practice Group and Hospitals and Health Systems Practice Group.  Mr. Ryan served on the firm’s Management Committee and was the Chair of Miller Johnson’s Litigation section.

Mr. Ryan is recognized as “Best Lawyer in America®” for commercial litigation and health care law.  He is named as a Michigan “Super Lawyer” for general litigation.

Articles and Presentations

Mr. Ryan provides training to hospitals and health systems and their patient accounts departments in the following areas:

• Commercial Billing and Reimbursement
• Revenue Cycle Strategies
• No-fault for Medical Providers
• Denial Management Protocols
• Fair Debt Collection Practices Act

Community Activities

Mr. Ryan was a member of the D.A. Blodgett Services for Children and Families Board of Director for 25 years.  He was president of the St. Alphonsus School Board and has volunteered with the Big Brothers Program.  He is currently on the Board of ELE (Everyone Loves Everyone).

Education

Mr. Ryan received his law degree cum laude in 1987 from Notre Dame Law School where he was the Notes Editor on the Law Review.  He earned his undergraduate degree summa cum laude in 1984 from Central Michigan University and was Valedictorian, and a member of Phi Kappa Phi Honorary.  He is admitted to practice in Michigan.