This month, we feature an article from the archives written by CAP’s former General Counsel Gordon Ownby.

Knowing a Patient Well Can Interfere with Good Judgment

When a specialist comes back with less than clear-cut test results, it is not unusual to see a report that contains politely worded recommendations for further workup. Don’t let the deferential language lull you into complacency.

Faxed reports, portals, electronically transmitted reports — physicians have had to adapt to a number of different formats in which they receive their reports. The various formats used in modern reports, plus the longstanding scourge of confirmation bias, make paying close attention to all such communications vital to patient safety.

The California Supreme Court has ruled that while the path is narrow, a physician can avoid an “anti-SLAPP defense” when alleging that a hospital’s peer review decision was retaliatory.

The California Court of Appeal has ruled that a physician assistant’s practice arrangement attenuated his required physician supervision so as to amount to the unauthorized practice of medicine.