Deborah Havey
Deborah Havey is a Miami, Florida native, has lived in South Florida most of her life, and has worked as a Legal Assistant with the Law Offices of Steven M. Ziegler, P.A., since 1997. She earned her Paralegal Certification from Barry University in 1986, earned her CLA certification from the National Association of Legal Assistants in 1989, and she is a licensed Healthcare Risk Manager by the State of Florida. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree with honors in Business and Professional Management from Nova Southeastern University in 1993. In 1994, she pursued further education and graduated from the American Institute of Medical Law in Risk Management.
Ms. Havey has more than 15 years of risk management experience in the managed care industry. Most recently, she was the Risk Manager for a prominent national health maintenance organization, where she developed and implemented that organization's entire pro-active risk management program. In her role as Risk Manager, she served as a member of the Quality Improvement, Credentialing and Peer Review Committees, and, as result, knows the operational aspects of a health maintenance organization and the way in which various departments function. Also in her capacity as Risk Manager, she was responsible for investigation of claims, development and implementation of corrective action plans, and compliance with state standards for health maintenance organizations. She also served as the corporate representative for litigation matters and worked closely with corporate and outside counsel in the defense of claims asserted against the organization in the areas of medical malpractice, benefits, and employment issues. In addition to her risk management responsibilities, she served on a number of committees, which were credited with the successful completion of the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) accreditation process. As part of her Risk Managers responsibilities, she became experienced in reviewing and analyzing incident reports and member formal/informal grievances to identify trends or patterns, in developing recommendations for corrective action to prevent or reduce loss before it occurred and measures for the mitigation of damages after a loss occurred, in quarterly reporting to the health plan Governing Body of all Risk Management Activities, including recommendations for loss prevention and summary reporting of pending/potential litigation. She was also responsible for training health plan staff and improving communication with contracted providers to encourage incident reporting, as well as in monitoring all litigation files assigned to local counsel and in assisting corporate counsel and local defense counsel in the investigation and retrieval of all documentation related to requests for production, interrogatories, all other forms of discovery as they concerned the health plan’s defense of claims, and in coordinating responses to all subpoenas on behalf of the health plan.
In 1997, Ms. Havey joined the Law Offices of Steven M. Ziegler, P.A. Ms. Havey's primary responsibility is to assist the Firm's attorneys in the defense of benefits and malpractice claims against managed care entities, as well as direct negligence claims brought against providers. In that capacity, she is also responsible for claims analysis, medical reviews, analysis of provider files and assisting the Firm's attorneys in preparing cases for trial. In addition, she provides risk management consulting services to the Firm's healthcare clients, as well as assisting with the Firm’s Desk Assessment Reviews for the clients.
Back to Firm Attorneys & Paralegals Page