Nicole J. Aiken-Shaban

A partner in Goodwin’s Healthcare practice, Nicole Aiken-Shaban is an experienced healthcare regulatory attorney who collaborates with clients to solve their operational and business challenges, expand their platforms, and close deals. She advises a national client base that includes healthcare providers and suppliers, private equity funds and other investors in the healthcare industry, commercial and managed Medicare and Medicaid organizations, and life sciences companies. Clients rely on her responsiveness, sound judgment, thoughtful analyses, and practical solutions.

Nicole regularly counsels clients on federal and state fraud and abuse laws, including the Stark Law, the Anti-Kickback Statute, and beneficiary inducement prohibitions, and assists in structuring complex transactions and contractual arrangements to comply with those laws. She also advises on reimbursement challenges, developing and navigating value-based care models and payment programs, and healthcare licensing and corporate practice of medicine matters. She leverages her regulatory experience to help clients prevent and defend against government investigations, audits, and False Claims Act matters, and to conduct internal compliance assessments.

Nicole serves as treasurer and secretary on the Executive Committee of the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Business Law Section and is a former co-chair of its Healthcare Law Committee. She previously served on the Board of Directors for The Center for Emerging Visual Artists.

• Served as healthcare regulatory counsel to Court Square Capital Partners, a middle-market private equity firm, for the sale of Knipper Health, a healthcare solutions company, to Frazier Healthcare Partners, a private equity firm focused exclusively on the healthcare industry.*
• Represented Webster Equity Partners and its portfolio company, Retina Consultants of America (“RCA”), in the sale of RCA to Cencora, Inc. (NYSE: COR) for approximately $4.6 billion in cash and up to $500 million in aggregate contingent consideration, provided certain predefined business objectives are met.*
• Represented FFL Partners and Leonard Green & Partners in the sale of Eyemart Express to VSP Vision, including navigating state healthcare transaction law review and approval process.*
• Assisted Webster Equity Partners in the acquisition of specialty physician practices, including advising on Stark Law, Anti-Kickback Statute, state kickback, fee-splitting, and self-referral laws, and corporate practice of medicine considerations.*
• Represented a leading New Jersey-based nonprofit hospital corporation in the acquisition of a hospital system in northern New Jersey by conducting a healthcare regulatory due diligence review of the target hospital, including advising on compliance risks associated with the target hospital’s physician arrangements, vendor and services agreements, licensure and accreditation, patient confidentiality practices, reimbursement, and corporate compliance program.*
• Assisted a skilled nursing facility with False Claim Act case alleging improper billing to Medicare Part A for rehabilitation therapy services.*
• Advised a pharmacy and healthcare services company on issues related to a federal criminal and civil investigation into its remuneration activities.*
• Counseled a biotech company in connection with federal criminal and civil investigation regarding promotional practices and allegations of false claims.*

*Denotes experience prior to joining Goodwin

Prior to joining Goodwin, Nicole was a partner at Reed Smith.

• Philadelphia Bar Association, treasurer and secretary, Executive Committee of Business Law Section
• Philadelphia Bar Association, co-chair, former Health Law Committee of Business Law Section
• American Health Lawyers Association
• The Center for Emerging Visual Artists, former member of Board of Directors

• Ranked in Band 2 by Chambers USA for Pennsylvania Healthcare (2018-2026), with clients noting that “Nicole is a leading healthcare regulatory adviser. She stands out for combining deep subject-matter expertise with a practical, business-oriented approach, consistently steering challenging matters toward workable and compliant outcomes.”
• Named a Leading Partner for Healthcare: Service Providers by The Legal 500 US (2026)
• Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America for Health Care Law (2026)
• Selected to City & State Pennsylvania’s Trailblazers in Health Care list (2024)
• Selected as a Bar Star Awardee from the Philadelphia Bar Association for Business Law (2024)

• Co-Author, “Key Takeaways from the CY 2027 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Proposed Rule,” Health Headlines Alert, August 2026
• Co-Author, “Recent FCA Enforcement Illustrates DOJ’s Focus on Wound Care,” Health Headlines Alert, July 2026
• Co-Author, “DOJ, Omnicare, and CVS Reach Settlement Over Decade-Long False Claims Act Dispute,” Health Headlines Alert, July 2026
• Co-Author, “SAMHSA Seeks Public Comment on Independent Accreditation System for CCBHC Expansion Grant Recipients,” Health Headlines Alert, July 2026
• Co-Author, “White House and DOJ Gain Early Traction in Campaign Against Restrictive Hospital-Payor Contract Terms With OhioHealth Settlement,” Health Headlines Alert, July 2026
• Co-Author, “Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Issues Interim Final Rule Clarifying Medicaid Work Requirements for 2027,” Health Headlines Alert, June 2026
• Co-Author, “Final Federal Independent Dispute Resolution Operations Rule Under the No Surprises Act,” Health Headlines Alert, June 2026
• Co-Author, “OIG Issues Favorable Advisory Opinions Concerning Space and Equipment Subleases and Limited Free Patient Services,” Health Headlines Alert, May 2026
• Co-Author, “CMS Expands Fraud Enforcement with Nationwide Moratoria on Hospice and HHA Enrollments,” Health Headlines Alert, May 2026
• Co-Author, “Department of Justice Announces New Initiatives Supporting Its Anti-Fraud Mission,” Health Headlines Alert, May 2026
• Co-Author, “FTC Launches Healthcare Task Force, Signaling Heightened Antitrust and Consumer Protection Enforcement,” Health Headlines Alert, March 2026
• Co-Author, “Ninth Circuit Enables 340B False Claims Act Enforcement,” Health Headlines Alert, March 2026
• Author, “Stark Law and Anti-Kickback Statute Comparison,” LexisNexis Practical Guidance (Updated 2025)
• Interview, “Behavioral health, pediatrics still viable for private equity, but Medicaid-dependent hospitals, nursing homes less attractive,” PE Hub (2025)
• Quoted, “Trump’s FTC to strike a new tone,” Private Funds CFO (2025)
• Quoted, “States curb CON laws to boost bed capacity,” Healthcare Dive (2025)