Description

The Healthcare Legal Specialist is responsible for providing legal assistance and administrative support to the attorneys of the Healthcare Law area. The incumbent will assist with providing legal support for the administration of the TRS-ActiveCare and TRS-Care health benefit plans which TRS provides for the employees and retirees of the public schools in the State of Texas. This position involves working with state and federal laws that apply to these health benefit plans, including legislative mandate analysis, litigation management and tracking, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) privacy and compliance, data security issues, general legal research, document drafting and review, and more. This position will proactively work with the Legal & Compliance team, Executive staff, and agency employees.
 
This position requires onsite work conducted at our TRS office in Austin, TX.
 
WHAT WILL YOU DO
Legal Support
- Drafts, edits, and proofreads legal documents, including contracts, legal briefs, and other related legal documents.
- Assists with training, governance, incident response, and compliance activities related to state and federal laws and regulations.
- Collaborates with TRS attorneys and internal teams to address legal matters and share relevant information.
- Assists with litigation management, issues legal hold orders, gathers and evaluates evidence, responds to subpoenas and requests for information, and communicates with other public entities.
- Conducts basic legal research using public and private resources.
- Prepares summaries of complex legal issues.
- Supports development, revision, and communication of processes and procedures.
- Assists with the drafting of regulations and the timely filing of rules with the Secretary of State.
General L&C Support
- Handles general administrative tasks such as calls, scheduling, travel arrangements, forms, timekeeping, mail, copying, and faxing.
- Conducts statistical, documentary, and investigatory research.
- Assists with the management and maintenance of electronic and physical records, and the proper disposition of records according to TRS' retention policies.
- Provides backup support to legal staff and assists with special projects as assigned.
HIPAA Compliance and Data Security
- Assists the Healthcare team attorneys in the development, implementation, training, and/or enforcement of HIPAA policy.
- Collaborates across departments to monitor for adherence to the HIPAA compliance program policies in staff relationships with vendors.
- Coordinates HIPAA training and assists with managing ongoing compliance and reporting with HIPAA policy.
- Manages compliance process for Business Associate Agreements (BAAs) and assists with BAA drafting and revisions.
- Develops and provides HIPAA compliance reporting and presentations for internal and external purposes.
- Supports TRS attorneys in managing data security and privacy matters, including Protected Health Information (PHI) data.
- Builds and maintains expertise in TRS technology and systems to provide effective privacy and data protection support.
- Assists with responses to data-security inquiries from outside agencies (e.g., government agencies, etc.) to assist in resolving issues, including HIPAA incidents.
 
Performs related work as assigned. 

Requirements

WHAT WILL YOU BRING
 
Required Education
High School Diploma or GED.
 
Required Experience
- Four (4) years of full-time directly related, progressively responsible experience as a legal assistant, paralegal, or related experience.
- An associates degree in a closely related field may be substituted on an equivalent year-for-year basis.

Required Registration, Certification, or Licensure

None.
 
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience, education, and/or training related to information systems
- Education in paralegal studies or prior experience as a paralegal
- Prior experience in health care or health insurance

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
Knowledge of:
- Proficiency in Office 365 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, SharePoint, OneNote)
- Azure
- Google tools
- Artificial Intelligence (AI)
- Web design
Skills in:
- Outstanding organizational skills and attention to detail.
- Planning, organizing, and prioritizing tasks to manage high-volume workloads accurately in dynamic environments.
- Problem analysis and solution development.
- Effective verbal and written communication, including proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
- Using computers in a Windows environment to create documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and reports with business software.
- Travel management systems, such as Concur.
- Legal research, analysis, and drafting of pleadings and related legal documents.
- Reviewing documents, interpreting complex laws and regulations, and applying sound judgment in decision-making.
Ability to:
- Establish and maintain harmonious working relationships with co-workers, agency staff, and external contacts.
- Work effectively in a professional team environment.
- Be willing to take training and courses to acquire new skills and knowledge as needed by the job