Risk Management News and Education

Patients come in many shapes and sizes, and so do their complaints, from the ridiculous to the serious. We frequently hear about these on the CAP Hotline, so we’re doing a short story on the subject.  For our purposes, we’ll call complaints as those coming directly from patients in either written or oral form. Grievances, on the other hand, are those from the patient’s healthcare plan, which all have a grievance management program.

We wanted to inform you that Risk E-Notes is being replaced by a new monthly digest, Patient Safety Advocate. As you know, Risk E Notes is a bimonthly email newsletter published by CAP’s Risk Management and Patient Safety Newsletter. Risk E-Notes has been written for independent physicians and their office staff. We know how busy you are and we know how difficult it is to keep up with the latest risk management news and trends.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has certified California’s Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation System (CURES). Effective October 2, 2018, it will become mandatory for all health care practitioners to consult and review the CURES 2.0 system prior to prescribing, ordering, administering, or furnishing a Schedule II-IV controlled substance.

A California appellate court has ruled that an expert’s declaration that a hospital followed a physician’s orders to monitor two troubled young patients was not enough to establish that the facility met its duty to a patient who claimed he was sexually assaulted by his roommate.

Many physicians feel they are not well informed about the indications, risks, benefits, and side effects of medical cannabis. Considering the inconsistency with federal and state laws and the mixed messages between legislation and government action, it is easy to see why most physicians have opted to avoid the issue until the confusion clears.

Effective July 1, 2018, Senate Bill 97 creates a mandatory requirement that a health provider that diagnoses or provides treatment to a patient with Parkinson's disease must report each case of Parkinson’s disease to the California Department of Public Health.

In part 1 of our article for Healthcare Risk Management (HRM), we outlined the issues of informed consent and informed refusals and what steps to take to protect your practice. In part 2 of our article, CAP’s Risk Management and Patient Safety Department will list the strategies and safeguards to have in place when working with advanced healthcare professionals.

We continue the conversation with Dr. Hsieh, Dr. Mikhael, Dr. Townsend and Dr. Steinmann, which we began in the May issue of CAPsules.

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Healthcare Risk Management (HRM) week starts June 18, 2018. In preparation for the week, it is important to understand the role risk management plays in creating a safe and protected physician-patient relationship.