Sheryl Dacso

Sheryl Tatar Dacso, J.D., Dr.P.H. is Board Certified in Health Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. She has represented health care organizations, hospitals and physicians for over 35 years. Dr. Dacso concentrates her practice on health care compliance, regulations and transactions, including physician practice mergers, acquisitions and business ventures as well as digital health and telemedicine.

Dr. Dacso’s practice includes the representation of nonprofit organizations such as Federally Qualified Health Centers, Certified Nonprofit Health Corporations, medical education foundations and research organizations.

She often advises on joint ventures involving exempt and nonexempt organizations and addresses issues associated with governance and regulatory compliance. Dr. Dacso is an AHLA trained negotiator/mediator for resolution of health care disputes and has handled many complex transactions involving health care organizations.

She has written several text books and articles on a broad range of health care topics ranging from managed care contracting to virtual practice arrangements among physician practices and serves on the editorial board of E-Health, Law and Policy, and is a regular contributing author of a chapter in the BNA publication of E-Health, Privacy and Security Law.

Dr. Dacso holds faculty appointments at the University of Houston where she teaches at the Law School in the Health Law Institute and in the College of Technology, and teaches in the Medical Humanities program at the University of Texas Medical School as a McGovern Fellow.

Dr. Dacso is a thought leader and frequent speaker on many health care topics such as health information technology including digital and e-health transactions, HIPAA and privacy, and Telemedicine use and regulation as well as health care reform, Accountable Care Organizations (ACO), health information exchanges and the various rules and incentives associated with the use of electronic health records.

Dr. Dacso was a pioneer in the early models of e-Health and information technology as she counseled entrepreneurs, health care providers and academic medical centers on the use and deployment of this technology.

Prior to the introduction of ACOs under health care reform, Dr. Dacso worked with clients to establish legal structures such as IPAs, PHOs and integrated delivery systems that could provide care to patients while managing financial and insurance risk. Her experience in managed care contracting extends to shared risk arrangements.

Education:

• J.D., South Texas College of Law (1979)
• Doctor of Public Health, UT Houston Health Science Center (1979)
• Master of Public Health, UT Houston Health Science Center (1974)
• B.A., University of Texas (1972)
• Certified Lean Six Sigma Green Belt

Affiliations:

• American Bar Association: Health Law, Employee Benefits and International Law Sections
• California Society of Hospital & Healthcare Attorneys
• Gulf Coast and Texas Medical Group Management Association
• American Association of Accountable Care Organizations