Dianne McCarthy

Biography

Dianne McCarthy is a retired health care lawyer. Her legal work has focused on non-profit healthcare law, specializing in privacy and compliance; transactions related to intellectual property, and mergers and acquisitions; faculty matters, including conflict of interest and scientific misconduct; and research related issues including those related to human subject research.

Her current focus is on the mentoring of young lawyers and supporting the work of non-profit health care.  She serves as the Chair of the Community Services Board of Dimock Health Center.  She serves as the Chair of the Finance and Warrant Commission for the Town of Westwood.

Professor McCarthy is a Lecturer at Boston University School of Law, where she teaches a Health Law Transactions Course.  Further, she has developed and fosters a Health Law Externship, and teaches the related course.  More recently, Ms. McCarthy has begun a Health Law Mentorship Program to foster the growth of new lawyers dedicated to practice across the spectrum of health law fields

Prior to retirement, Ms. McCarthy served as the General Counsel at the Center for Health Information and Analysis, focusing on privacy and compliance, as well as corporate and transactional matters. CHIA’s mission is to be the agency of record for Massachusetts health care information, to responsibly steward sensitive and confidential data, and to objectively report reliable and meaningful information about the quality, affordability, utilization, access, and outcomes of the Massachusetts health care system. 

Ms. McCarthy previously served as Chief Counsel for Research Affairs at Boston Children’s Hospital.  She previously served as Deputy General Counsel for Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, a Harvard affiliated institution focusing on clinical care and research, and General Counsel for Joslin Diabetes Center, Inc and Joslin Clinic, Inc., Harvard affiliated research and clinical institutes focusing on the treatment and cure of diabetes.  Prior to Joslin, she was Associate General Counsel at CareGroup, Inc., a hospital-physician network in Eastern Massachusetts, including Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, New England Baptist Hospital and other community hospitals.  Prior to joining CareGroup, she was an associate in the Business Department of Nutter, McClennen & Fish, LLP and a member of the Firm’s Health Care Practice Group.  She has over 20 years’ experience in the health care field as both a clinical social worker and a health care administrator. 

Ms. McCarthy received a BA from Springfield College in 1975 and a Masters in Social Work from the University of Connecticut in 1979.  She received her Juris Doctor, cum laude, from Boston University in 1997.