Health-E Law Podcast Ep. 19
From AI to OBBBA: Healthcare Law Insights from the 2025 WHLC Leadership Summit with Amy Dilcher and Chi Huynh, WHLC Co-Chairs
Thank you for downloading this transcript.
Listen to the podcast released December 4, 2025, here:
https://www.sheppardmullin.com/multimedia-661
Welcome to Health-e Law, Sheppard Mullin's podcast exploring the fascinating health tech topics and trends of the day. In this episode, Michael Orlando welcomes Amy Dilcher and Chi Huynh, co-chairs of Sheppard Mullin’s Women in Healthcare Leadership Collaborative (WHLC), to discuss key takeaways from the 2025 WHLC Leadership Summit.
About Amy Dilcher
Amy Dilcher is a partner in the Corporate Practice Group in Sheppard Mullin’s Washington, D.C. office and Co-Chair of WHLC. With more than 25 years in the healthcare industry and a prior career as an oncology nurse, Amy's dual understanding of the clinical and legal aspects of healthcare enables her to deliver practical, tailored solutions that balance business goals with regulatory compliance.
Amy advises hospitals, health systems, and private equity–backed organizations on strategic affiliations, hospital and physician transactions, regulatory compliance, and operational risk. Her background as Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel enables her to offer practical guidance that aligns legal strategy with business and clinical priorities. Her practice includes structuring and negotiating complex healthcare transactions, developing compliance programs, and supporting post-transaction integration. She also provides ongoing counsel to leadership teams navigating regulatory and operational challenges.
Amy is certified as a Yellow Belt in Legal Process Improvement and Project Management through Legal Lean Sigma, and she assists clients in strengthening legal operations, improving workflow efficiency, and enhancing organizational performance.
About Chi Huynh
Chi Huynh is a partner in the Corporate Practice Group in Sheppard Mullin’s Century City office and Co-Chair of WHLC. Her practice focuses on healthcare transactions, compliance, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate governance.
Chi represents physician groups, independent physician associations, hospitals and affiliated foundations, nonprofit health organizations, pharmacies, and other healthcare entities in mergers and acquisitions, operational matters, contracting, and general corporate counsel work. She also handles healthcare regulatory issues involving information privacy, the corporate practice of medicine, anti-kickback rules, and Stark Law considerations. She also advises public and private companies, private equity firms, and strategic investors on mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, investment structures, and corporate governance. Her work spans a range of industries, including semiconductor, food and beverage, specialty manufacturing, entertainment, energy, and renewable energy.
Before joining Sheppard Mullin, Chi served as Associate General Counsel at IPC Healthcare, Inc., where she led a team responsible for negotiating, documenting, and closing more than 35 acquisitions across multiple states.
About Michael Orlando
Michael Orlando is a corporate and intellectual property transactions attorney in Sheppard Mullin’s San Diego (Del Mar) office, where he leads the firm’s Technology Transactions Team and is a member of the Life Sciences and Healthcare teams.
Michael advises technology companies on the development, commercialization, and procurement of their products. His expertise covers a broad spectrum of transactions, including licensing, outsourcing, joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, collaborations, and strategic partnerships. By integrating corporate and intellectual property law, Michael structures deals that align his clients' legal, technical, and business objectives. His practice serves a diverse range of industries—from biotechnology and digital health to aerospace and automotive technologies, with a particular focus on electric, autonomous, and connected vehicle systems. He represents a wide array of clients, from early-stage startups to Fortune 500 companies.
Before entering private practice, Michael founded a software-as-a-service company and completed an in-house secondment at a publicly traded biotechnology company, an experience that informs his practical and business-focused approach to client engagements.
Transcript:
Michael Orlando:
Welcome to the Health-e Law Podcast. I'm Mike Orlando, healthcare technology partner with Sheppard Mullin. I have the pleasure of hosting today's episode. I'm pleased to be joined today by Amy Dilcher and Chi Huynh, my law partners, who also serve as the co-chairs of the Women in Healthcare Leadership Collaborative, also known as WHLC or WHLC. Hi, Amy and Chi. Thanks for joining today.
Chi Huynh:
Thanks for having us, Michael.
Amy Dilcher:
Thanks, Michael, for having us.
Michael Orlando:
Let's talk about WHLC and why listeners should be interested. Just a few weeks ago in our offices at 30 Rock in New York City, WHLC hosted its annual leadership summit bringing some of healthcare's brightest, the most innovative leaders together, to propel the industry forward. I've never been to this, so I'm sure listeners would be interested in knowing. Can you tell us more about the summit and WHLC's mission?
Amy Dilcher:
Absolutely. The WHLC Summit is now in its second year, and it gathers together healthcare professionals to discuss the most pressing challenges that are facing our sector. The attendees this year were from a variety of different backgrounds ranging from legal, compliance, clinical care, and finance among others. This year's theme was focused on leading healthcare organizations through the current evolving regulatory environment under the new administration. We had several panels, an interactive workshop on executive presence and several informal networking opportunities. The panels covered a wide variety of topics, including how healthcare companies are handling the emergence of AI in their companies, considerations for healthcare companies who are involved in transactions, healthcare enforcement priorities by federal regulators, strategies to mitigate the risk of disputes in commercial arrangements, and upcoming changes to federal reimbursement that are likely to impact healthcare companies.
Chi Huynh:
And then, in terms of WHLC, WHLC's mission is focused on advancing women in healthcare leadership. What this entails is tackling persistent gaps in gender and diversity and building networks that will lead to lasting positive change. There's been progress made. Women now occupy about a third of executive positions, which represent a steady climb from just 15% a decade ago. But the work isn't done, particularly for women of color and at the highest ranks. WHLC is here to support, connect, and champion women alongside their allies as we collectively help shape the future of healthcare.
Michael Orlando:
Yes. Sounds like an important mission. I've heard nothing myself, but rave reviews from the attendees and everyone that went. Can you tell us more about the summit's takeaways and WHLC's agenda for the next year?
Amy Dilcher:
Absolutely. Well, thanks for the feedback. It was really great to hear. There are four areas that we wanted to highlight from the summit.
Chi Huynh:
The first area is in healthcare transactions. This is an area that continues to evolve. We learned from our antitrust panel, that both the FTC and the DOJ continue their rigorous oversight by requiring expanded and more detailed reporting under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act, HSR Act. In fact, in February this year, new HSR rules were in effect, making filings more burdensome and costly. Additionally, from a state's level, states have also introduced pre-merger notification laws, and this further increased complexity and the potential for delays as authorities are now reviewing deals, not just for competition, but also for public health cost and equity considerations. What this means is that deals need earlier and more oversight, stronger documentation, and proactive communications with multiple regulators. This could make the timeline to closing much longer for deals.
And then, in terms of AI and healthcare, AI was a major topic of discussion. Leaders talked about the framework for evaluating new AI tools, bringing data, building multidisciplinary oversight, and confronting real risk around bias and data privacy. The consensus was that technology should not outpace an organization's policies and training.
Amy Dilcher:
Reimbursement and regulatory changes were top of mind. The summit focused on the impact of OBA. These changes are anticipated to potentially reduce reimbursement in a number of areas the healthcare providers are focused on because they're going to have to potentially make decisions about reducing care or eliminating service lines among others. Both strategic planning and early risk assessment are really more important than ever to navigate these changes. And then finally, telehealth was another hot topic. With the federal pandemic flexibilities ending on October 31, there's real uncertainty among providers about whether to continue to provide telehealth services and the potential impact that that may have on patient access, particularly for patients who reside in rural areas where they're underserved by providers. Many organizations are continuing to provide services in this interim period while pausing on the submission of claims while we wait for regulatory clarity. The overall theme was that telehealth is here to stay, but that its success hinges on compliance and adaptability.
Michael Orlando:
Those are great topics. Definitely something that everybody is interested in, especially the One Big Beautiful bill. It's a big topic these days.
Amy Dilcher:
That's something I think everybody's focused on. Looking ahead for next year, we'll continue to focus on highlighting emerging legal issues such as AI, that was covered this year, as well as practical leadership skills such as executive communication, and then also opportunities for members to continue to connect throughout the year, including our next and third annual summit, as well as roundtables and national networking events across the country.
Michael Orlando:
That's great. When you think about what can actually encourage women to step into these leadership roles in healthcare, how do you see the summit fitting into that? What do you see as drivers that can help support women?
Chi Huynh:
That's a great question. The summit is all about mentorship and creating a culture of openness. It's a platform for role models who've paved the way to network and have discussions around women's challenges in healthcare. Attendees agree moving ahead in your career rarely happens alone. It's built on collaboration, mentorship, and supportive allies.
Amy Dilcher:
Some of the key drivers that we think can help support women in leadership roles that we discussed at the summit are building inclusive networks and peer support groups, which is at the heart of WHLC's mission. It is open to everyone and of all genders, men and female leaders alike. Offering practical hands-on workshops like executive presence training is also something that's available to our members. Supporting recognition and visibility of women healthcare leaders for their achievements, and we do that through newsletters, spotlights on LinkedIn and celebrating leadership moments. And then finally, providing women leaders with the latest thought leadership on areas that are most relevant to their roles and their companies, that they can bring to their legal departments, their executive teams and their boards.
Michael Orlando:
One of the points that the WHLC Summit you mentioned was to create opportunities for collaboration. Can you tell us how the summit encourages collaboration?
Chi Huynh:
Sure. Collaboration was truly at the heart of this year's summit. At the summit, it included interactive sessions. Amy mentioned the executive presence workshop, where attendees broke out in small groups of four and had discussions. And also, there were a lot of informal networking opportunities during breaks and lunches and dinners. Attendees from legal compliance and operational background all had the chance to share their insight and to address real world challenges and make some meaningful connections. This is important, not just to be able to exchange best practices, but also to build a support system that will last well beyond the summit.
Amy Dilcher:
It's the spirit of collaboration that is especially important right now as legal departments face mounting pressures to do more with less, which is a challenge that's heightened by the current economic conditions. Sheppard's Legal Bridge Services is a good example of how outside counsel can help extend and strengthen in-house teams by offering specialized expertise and flexible support.
Chi Huynh:
Legal Bridge Services was formed by Amy Dilcher, and I'm also involved in this. What we share is both Amy and I came from in-house. Amy was GC for 17 years, and I was AGC for four years, and that's how Legal Bridge was birthed. It allows outside counsel to seamlessly work with the in-house team, and in doing so, we're able to provide scalable resources to our client without much long-term commitment on their part. For example, we would bridge the staffing needs of our client during a transition period without them having to add any permanent headcounts. Therefore, Legal Bridge could be a powerful tool for legal departments to address transition periods or complex challenges when resources may be limited by helping them achieve their business objective in an efficient manner. Ultimately, it's an example of how thoughtful collaboration between in-house teams and outside counsel leads to more effective agile and creative solutions for organizations.
Amy Dilcher:
This was something that was born out of a client need. I have a background as in-house counsel, and I was general counsel for my last three companies. This is something that is an interim bridge for legal departments to assist them in navigating through times of change, such as a departure of a member of the legal department or a gap that needs to be covered within the department. We are continuing to see, particularly in the environment, other clients approaching us about providing support to their departments. And so, that is when I had reached out to Chi, who also has in-house experience to help with this particular program, so that we can offer it to more clients, and they can benefit from it by being able to manage their day-to-day needs, so that they can focus on the strategic objectives of the organization. We handle the blocking and tackling. We are flexible and can adjust and customize the program to meet their needs and do that in an efficient and cost-effective manner.
Michael Orlando:
All right, great. I've really enjoyed hearing about WHLC and all the different things you have going on. What's the last word you'd like listeners to leave with today?
Chi Huynh:
If I could leave one thought, it would be that true progress happens when we invest in each other. Healthcare will continue to evolve with new laws and regulations being introduced to address every increasing costs and spending. During these potentially disruptive times, resilience and collaboration will matter more than ever.
Amy Dilcher:
For me, building community and opening doors for leadership, especially for women, so that's a really powerful example for the entire healthcare industry. WHLC, we are committed to fostering spaces for growth, meaningful connection, and lasting positive change. We'd invite your listeners to join us in this mission and together, let's continue advancing progress across the healthcare landscape.
Michael Orlando:
Chi and Amy, thank you so much. I'm sure the listeners are very excited about WHLC and what it is, and looking forward to the next annual summit you're doing. They'll be able to find more information in the show notes if they want to contact you to find that information. Thank you so much for joining us today. Really appreciate it.
Chi Huynh:
Thank you for having us.
Michael Orlando:
That's a wrap on this episode of Health-e Law, powered by Sheppard Mullin, where healthcare innovation meets legal expertise. Until next time, stay healthy and stay informed.
Contact Info:
Resources:
Women in Leadership Healthcare Collaborative (WHLC)
* * *
Thank you for listening! Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE to the show to receive new episodes delivered straight to your podcast player every month.
If you enjoyed this episode, please help us get the word out about this podcast. Rate and Review this show on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, or Spotify. It helps other listeners find this show.
This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not to be construed as legal advice specific to your circumstances. If you need help with any legal matter, be sure to consult with an attorney regarding your specific needs.