The Court of Appeal has told a health plan, in effect, “not so fast” after the plan refused to consider a surgeon’s attempt to correct an initial coding error after an alleged emergency surgery.
Physicians may be forgiven for a feeling of whiplash after emerging from an era of pain-medication permissiveness to today’s opioid vigilance. Nevertheless, practitioners must always be alert to the warning signs of a patient who is abusing the trust of the physician- patient relationship.
In reinstating a lawsuit brought by a group of therapists and counselors, the California Supreme Court cleared the way for a show of evidence over which approach best serves the goal of curtailing the demand for online child pornography: The opportunity to effectively treat patients who possess and view such material, or mandatory disclosure to law enforcement authorities when a patient tells a therapist of such behavior.
Remember the exam-taking advice telling you to go with your first impression if no other answer seems to fit? Fast forward to your clinical practice today and that advice may still apply: At the least, be sure to follow through on your original suspicions when assessing a patient’s complaints. If you don’t, you’ve only helped a plaintiff attorney write his or her trial argument.