Bertina Hooks

Physician Career Strategist | Non-Clinical and Alternative Clinical Transitions | Medical-Legal Consultant | Inpatient, Post-Acute & Transplant Medicine Expert | Physician | Founder, Phoenix Health Law Consulting LLC

Plano, Texas, United States

About

I am a board-certified internal medicine physician and medical-legal consultant with over 20 years of experience in hospital medicine, healthcare systems, and utilization management across commercial, Medicare, and Medicaid lines of business. Through Phoenix Health Law Consulting LLC, I provide independent medical expert witness services in matters involving: - Inpatient standards of care - Post-acute care level-of-care determinations (LTAC, IRF, SNF) - Transplant medicine - Medical necessity disputes - CMS compliance and regulatory standards - Utilization management review I am retained by both plaintiff and defense counsel and have experience in deposition and trial settings. Engagements are accepted on a selective basis. My clinical background includes hospitalist medicine, locum tenens, occupational and urgent care, non-invasive aesthetics, primary care, and extensive systems-level utilization management oversight. This breadth allows me to analyze cases not only from a bedside perspective, but within the operational and regulatory realities of modern healthcare. In parallel, I help physicians move from survival mode to intentional, sustainable careers — staying in medicine while building clarity, boundaries, and purpose. After experiencing burnout within the traditional healthcare system, I redesigned my own career — integrating clinical work, leadership, coaching, and business strategy — before guiding others through similar transitions. Through The Mindful Practice and Pinnacle Business Academy, I work with physicians navigating: - Burnout and identity shifts - Career transitions within or beyond clinical medicine - Leadership growth - Systems-based career redesign My work bridges clinical excellence, regulatory insight, and physician sustainability. I am also: - Certified Executive Coach - Utilization Management Specialist - Medical Expert Witness - Author of Fire to Freedom - Host of The Mindful Practice Podcast - Executive MBA & CPE Candidate Physicians are trained to endure. I help them learn to design. If you are counsel seeking a medical expert witness or a physician navigating career evolution, I welcome thoughtful conversation.

Experience

  • Publisher at Phoenix Ascend Press
    Jan 2026 - Present · 7 mos

  • Corporate Medical Director at Centene Corporation
    Sep 2025 - Present · 11 mos

  • Physician/CEO at Phoenix Medical Spa
    Nov 2024 - Present · 1 yr 9 mos

  • Medical Expert Witness at Self-employed
    Jun 2023 - Present · 3 yrs 2 mos

  • Pinnacle Business Academy (4 yrs 7 mos)
    • Business coach & consultant
      May 2023 - Present · 3 yrs 3 mos

    • Coach
      Jan 2022 - Present · 4 yrs 7 mos