Scores of New Jersey healthcare professionals have turned to Alma L. Saravia for counsel on issues ranging from licensure and disciplinary matters, including those before the Board of Medical Examiners, to complex litigation matters. Her clients include physicians, nurses, chiropractors, hospitals, medical staffs, nursing homes and other healthcare organizations. She also frequently defends healthcare providers facing insurance fraud investigations or demands for repayment by insurers.
Ms. Saravia is highly regarded in the field of healthcare law, both in the public and private sector. She is a former member of the Board of Medical Examiners and Ms. Saravia is one of the State’s most experienced attorneys in representing healthcare professionals before the licensing boards.
Working alongside legislators and government officials, Ms. Saravia was actively involved in shaping several aspects of New Jersey’s new adult-use cannabis law. Since the legalization of medical marijuana under New Jersey’s Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act in 2010, she has been a guiding force for physicians and their rights under the law. She provides regulatory guidance for alternative treatment centers and adult-use applicants in the cannabusiness industry. Her extensive experience and relationships with the members of the New Jersey Legislature and governmental agencies have proven beneficial to her practice, and Ms. Saravia is considered a go-to legal source to members of the media for commentary on the New Jersey medical marijuana and adult-use cannabis laws. Most recently, she was named to the Insider NJ Top 100 Cannabis Power List, which highlights the top influential voices in the cannabis debate in New Jersey.
Throughout her career, she has affected and effected on the progress of healthcare law in the state as a lobbyist, as the former chairperson of and director of various governmental agencies, and as the catalyst for important legislative changes. Among other significant pieces of legislation, she is credited with spearheading the enactment of the state’s joint negotiation law, which allowed physicians and dentists to engage in joint negotiations with managed care entities. Ms. Saravia also served as special counsel for clients in drafting healthcare regulations and legislation.
A frequent lecturer and author, Ms. Saravia regularly presents on topics including telemedicine credentialing and privileging, medical staff bylaws, physician representation and The Affordable Care Act. She co-authored an article for the New Jersey Law Journal focused on New Jersey's recent "crack down" on physicians who allegedly over prescribe pain medications and it highlighted strategies and thoughts on policy issues. She also co-authored a chapter in the Health Care Dispute Resolution Manual titled, “External Review of Health Plan Decisions.” Ms. Saravia is a long-time columnist for the Camden County Medical Society “Bulletin.”
An advocate for women, Ms. Saravia serves on the Eagleton Institute of Politics, Senator Wynona Lipman Chair in Women’s in Political Leadership Committee. She authored an article on “Life Lessons in Leadership” to coincide with the Senator Wynona M. Lipman lecture by Valerie Jarrett, senior adviser to President Barack Obama. She is also on the Board of Directors of Pam’s List, a New Jersey fundraising network dedicated to promoting opportunities for democratic women candidates for office.
Ms. Saravia attended Rutgers University where she received a B.A. in 1975 and an M.S.W. in Social Policy Analysis in 1979. She earned her J.D. degree from Rutgers University School of Law-Camden in 1986.
Representative Matters
- Negotiated numerous Consent Orders with healthcare licensing boards
- Represented physicians in medical staff credentialing matters
- Counseled hospitals’ medical staffs
- Defended providers facing insurance fraud investigations or demands for repayment by insurers
- Appealed regulations unlawfully restricting certified registered nurse anesthetists’ right to practice
- Served as special counsel in the drafting of health care regulations and legislation
- Appealed the imposition of medical protocols imposed upon physicians treating patients injured in an automobile accident
Honors & Awards
- Named to Insider NJ's Insider 100: Cannabis Power List, 2019 & 2021
- Top Attorney List - Healthcare, SJ Magazine, 2010, 2014, 2017, 2019 & 2021
- Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient, New Jersey Law Journal, 2019
- 2006 Burlington County Outstanding Women of the Year Award, Category of Law
- Awesome Attorney List, South Jersey Magazine, 2004
A description of the standard or methodology on which the accolades are based can be found here. No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey.
Professional Affiliations
- American Bar Association
- Member, Medical Staff, Credentialing and Peer Review Committee
- Burlington County Bar Association
- Camden County Bar Association
- Former Member, Health Care Law Committee
- New Jersey State Bar Association
- Former Chairperson, Health and Hospital Law Section
Community Activities
- Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University
- Member, Senator Wynona Lipman Chair in Women’s Political Leadership Advisory Committee
- Pam's List
- Member, Board of Directors
- Friends of the Library Company of Burlington
- President, Board of Directors
- Rutgers Alfredo Santiago Endowed Scholarship's Leadership Award, Rutgers/LEAP Academy Charter Schools, 2012
- Institute for Nursing, 2005 EPIC Award Winner
- Family Service Organization (Mount Holly, NJ) - Listed on “Wall of Recognition” and room in facility bears name
News
- Press Release(October 13, 2021)
- Press Release(July 22, 2021)
- SJ Magazine(August 17, 2020)
- Press Release(March 28, 2019)
- InsiderNJ(March 5, 2019)
- Asbury Park Press(February 5, 2019)
- Leafly(January 31, 2019)
- Press Release(April 20, 2018)
- Press Release(August 3, 2017)
- The Philadelphia Inquirer(July 29, 2017)
- The New Jersey Law Journal(April 22, 2015)
- Press Release(August 28, 2014)
- Press Release(August 1, 2014)
- Photo Caption(April 24, 2014)
- Press Release(September 25, 2013)
- Press Release(June 11, 2013)
- Press Release(April 18, 2012)
- Press Release(January 4, 2012)
Events
- (April 7, 2022)
- Dedication of Memorial Plaques Honoring John M. Alti, Dr. Wynona Moore Lipman, Casto Maldonado & Calvin D. WestJoseph N. DiVincenzo, Jor., Essex County Executive and the Board of County Commissioners(October 6, 2021)
- Atlantic Medical Imaging, LLC Virtual Lecture Series(February 26, 2021)
- NJICLE, NJSBA Senior Lawyers Special Committee(April 23, 2019)
- NJICLE, NJSBA Cannabis Law Special Committee, New Jersey CPA Society(March 13, 2019)
- Chamber of Commerce Southern New Jersey, Flaster Greenberg PC, Archer & Greiner PC, CohnReznick, Curaleaf, New Jersey Cannabusiness Association(March 6, 2019)
- Flaster Greenberg PC, HBK CPAs & Consultants(December 12, 2018)
- Strafford(September 13, 2017)
- Telemedicine Credentialing and Privileging: Minimizing Liability, Protecting Patient Privacy, Ensuring Quality CareStrafford(October 29, 2015)
- Strafford Publications, Inc.(September 11, 2014)
- Representing Physicians in Today's Legal QuagmireCamden County Bar Association(October 10, 2013)
- The Affordable Care Act- Where are we and why is New Jersey so far behind?Home Health Services and Staffing Association(June 11, 2013)
Articles & Alerts
- Legal Alert(March 24, 2020)
- NJ Cannabis Insider(March 28, 2019)
- Legal Alert(August 6, 2018)
- Legal Alert(February 6, 2018)
- MD Magazine(September 11, 2017)
- Legal Alert(February 10, 2017)
- MedStaff News(December 2016)
- New Jersey Law Journal(February 23, 2015)
- The Bulletin, Camden County Medical Society, Vol. 14, #2(December 22, 2014)
- The Bulletin, Camden County Medical Society, Vol. 13, #3(Summer 2012)
- (April 26, 2011)
- Assemblyman Herb Conaway, MD, JD, Chairman of the Assembly Health and Senior Services Committee Provides Overview of His Efforts to Implement Electronic Medical Records and Health Information TechnologyThe Bulletin, Camden County Medical Society, vol. 13, #1(Fall 2010)
- Medical Society of New Jersey(2010)
- The Bulletin, Camden County Medical Society, vol. 12, #2(Spring 2009)
- The Bulletin, Camden County Medical Society, vol. 12, #1(Winter 2009)
- The Bulletin, Camden County Medical Society, vol. 11, #3(Summer 2008)
- The Bulletin, Camden County Medical Society, vol. 11, #2(Spring 2008)
- The Bulletin, Camden County Medical Society, vol. 11, #1(Winter 2008)
- New Jersey Lawyer Magazine(February 2007)
- New Jersey Law Journal, vol. CLXXXII, no. 11, index 969(December 12, 2005)
- New Jersey Law Journal, vol. CLXXVIII, no. 11, index 1050(December 13, 2004)
- New Jersey Law Journal(November 3, 2003)
- New Jersey Law Journal, vol. CLXXI, no. 7, index 516(February 10, 2003)
Practice Areas
Industry Groups
Admissions
- New Jersey
- U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
Education
- Rutgers University School of Law–Camden, J.D.
- Rutgers University, M.S.W., Social Policy Analysis
- Rutgers University, B.A.