CAP Speakers Bureau

Experts and Thought Leaders

The CAP Speakers Bureau is a compilation of CAP experts and thought leaders in medical risk management, practice management, legal, and public affairs. CAP’s highly qualified speakers have a wealth of knowledge and experience to share with members, medical societies, and practices to help reduce risk and increase the quality of patient care. 

Risk Management CME Presentation Offerings

All Risk Management presentations are 1 hour with 1 CME credit available*.

Interested in a topic not on this list? Let us know and we will connect you with an appropriate speaker.

Patient Relationships: From Positive Starts to Knowing When & How to Let Go

When circumstances arise that can lead to the deterioration of the physician-patient relationship, a physician must consider what steps to take to protect the patient and avoid professional liability. In this program, CAP's risk management experts will discuss when and how the physician-patient relationship is established, identify best practices for maintaining a good relationship in today’s healthcare environment, and offer guidance for proper termination when it is needed.

At the end of this activity, the learner will be able to:

Identify when a physician-patient relationship is established to determine duty and obligations to your patients.
Demonstrate how to appropriately terminate the physician-patient relationship and mitigate risk.
Apply risk management best practices to reduce medical professional liability claims related to allegations of abandonment.
Integrate contemporary issues (telemedicine, vaccination status, and social media) with their impact on the modern physician-patient relationship.
Identify cultural, linguistic, and health literacy limitations that may negatively impact communication with patients (understanding) and erode the physician-patient relationship.

Key Strategies for Addressing Violence in the Medical Practice

Healthcare workers experience the highest rates of injuries caused by workplace violence and are five times as likely to get injured at work than workers overall. As threats increase, now is a good time to develop a workplace violence prevention program in your practice. During this program, CAP’s team of risk management and patient safety specialists will cover potential workplace violence scenarios and strategies for avoiding and preparing for dangerous scenarios that can range from verbal attacks to physical assaults, or worse.

At the end of this activity, the learner will be able to:

Be able to develop a workplace violence prevention plan.
Establish protocols for dealing with difficult situations.
Implement de-escalation techniques and effective communication.
Develop regular training and drills for entire office setting.
Utilize CAP toolkit to assist with practice workplace violence prevention plan.

Take Aim At Risk: Vital Communications

• Identify examples of communication failures that can lead to malpractice claims
• Managing and documenting informed consent and informed refusal
• Best practices for apology and disclosures

Take Aim At Risk: Vital Systems - Risk Strategies

• Define common malpractice allegations and implement risk mitigation strategies
• Comprehensive documentation of patient care and other related patient management decisions
• Adapt awareness of cultural linguistic competency and implicit bias when interacting with patients and their families

Tackling Burnout: A Serious Threat to Patient Safety

This program will provide tangible solutions for managing the mental and physical stress frequently associated with practicing medicine in today’s tumultuous healthcare environment. Participants will gain fresh perspectives to enhance resiliency, mitigate stress, improve patient safety, and increase career satisfaction.

At the end of this activity, the learner will be able to:

Examine the root causes of burnout.
Illustrate the prevalence of burnout and its impact on patient safety.
Detect the contributing factors to burnout.
Provide strategies to recognize and prevent burnout to promote safe and effective patient care.

Physicians, Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants Working Under One Roof

With the number of Nurse Practitioners (NPs) and Physician Assistants (PAs) on the rise, knowing how to properly manage and work with NPs and PAs is critical to maximizing collaboration, productivity, and quality patient care. This program will share information about recent legislation affecting NP and PA scope of practice and offer strategies for effective supervision to reduce your medical liability risk and ensure a thriving practice.

At the end of this activity, the learner will be able to:

Review the duties and responsibilities of a physician when supervising nurse practitioners and physician assistants.
Analyze contributing factors involving advanced practice providers that jeopardize patient safety and increase liability risk.
Apply appropriate coding and billing of services provided by advanced practice providers.
Demonstrate risk management and patient safety strategies that will improve patient outcomes when care is shared by a nurse practitioner and/or physician assistant and physician.
Adapt awareness of cultural and linguistic competency and implicit bias standards when interacting with the patient, their families, and healthcare team.

Decisions Before Dilemmas: Considerations in Advance Care Planning

In this program, you will learn strategies for properly assessing your patients’ decisional capacity, ensuring your patients’ preferences are documented and met, and billing for associated services. By understanding and integrating regular discussions about your patients’ future medical treatments and care, you will ultimately enhance satisfaction, and gain clarity around ethically and legally complex situations during critical moments.

At the end of this activity, the learner will be able to:

Differentiate between decisional capacity and competency.
Integrate methods and tools used to assess decisional capacity in clinical practice.
Distinguish the benefits of identifying surrogate decision-makers.
Design a process to integrate advance healthcare planning discussions into patient visits and bill for services.
Implement standardized processes and tools for advance healthcare planning to help reduce the influence of implicit bias.

Enhancing Patient Safety and Minimizing Risk with Controlled Substances

Awareness of legal and regulatory framework when prescribing controlled medications
Develop standardized procedures and protocols when assessing patient conditions that would warrant prescribing controlled medications
Utilize tools to assist with patient accountability; medication agreements

Avoiding Critical Flaws in the Consent Process

Informed consent and informed refusal continue to be overlooked sources of liability risk in medical practices. Protect yourself from a damaging lawsuit by joining the risk management experts with the Cooperative of American Physicians (CAP) for a program addressing all that you should know about an effective consent process, including best practices for proper documentation and meaningful patient discussions to ensure optimal education and understanding.

As a result of this activity, the learner should be able to:

Identify the required elements of the consent discussion
Utilize effective communication techniques (teach back, open ended questions, etc.) using common language to encourage patient engagement in consent conversation.
Integrate appropriate education materials/strategies based on identified cultural or language issues.
Define informed refusal and recognize when it should be memorialized in the record.
Understand the risks of failing to obtain proper informed consent.
Utilize effective communication to identify factors that contribute to patient hesitancy to consent for necessary treatment.

Medication Errors: Your Liability and How to Reduce Risk

Unsafe medication practices are a common cause of preventable adverse patient events. Errors can arise from factors like medication contraindications, overprescribing, patient nonadherence, incorrect dosage, and much more. Join the risk management experts with the Cooperative of American Physicians (CAP) for a program providing actionable guidance for enhancing medication management procedures in your practice to help reduce your medical malpractice liability.

At the end of this activity, the learner will be able to:

Describe the prevalence of medication prescribing and adverse drug events in the United States.
Understand the complexities of the medication process in the ambulatory settings.
Utilize Drug Information Resources for safe medication prescribing.
Identify high risk medications and apply safer prescribing strategies to vulnerable patient populations.
Implement steps to establish a culture of safety to reduce medication harm.

Enhancing Documentation Practices for Improved Patient Care

Join the risk management and patient safety experts at the Cooperative of American Physicians (CAP) to learn time-saving techniques for establishing and maintaining an efficient documentation system. Physicians of all specialties and practice settings will benefit from invaluable insights to help you avoid common documentation pitfalls and lower your liability risk, expedite reimbursements, and streamline patient visits.

At the end of this activity, the learner will be able to:

Recognize how medical record documentation impacts medico-legal cases.
Utilize objective findings and avoid vague terminology when documenting a patient’s clinical picture.
Perform comprehensive documentation of patient care and related management decisions.
Compose notes that avoid the use of comments that could be perceived as disrespectful, stigmatizing, or biased.
Integrate appropriate education materials and strategies in a manner that is culturally sensitive, linguistically accessible, and tailored to meet the diverse needs of patients.
Create a protocol to effectively manage late entries, addendums, and patient requests for amending their medical record.

Artificial Intelligence Updates 2025: Embracing AI’s Benefits and Challenges

Presented by CAP's risk management experts, this program will provide you with key insights on how to leverage emerging opportunities while safeguarding your practice and enhancing patient care.

At the end of this activity, the learner will be able to:

• Examine the potential risks and liabilities associated with AI implementation in healthcare.
• Apply the legal and regulatory frameworks governing the use of AI in healthcare.
• Evaluate the ethical considerations and challenges arising from AI utilization in patient care.
• Manage strategies to mitigate risks and liabilities related to AI in healthcare.
• Create protocols and policies to ensure the responsible and ethical use of AI technologies.
• Utilize training from professional agencies to understand how the AI tools work, how they should be used, and not used, and their limitations to minimize the impacts of AI bias.

Using AI in the Medical Office

While AI offers tremendous potential as an advanced tool to assist providers and healthcare staff, it is crucial that human decision-making remains at the core of the patient care process. Examining how AI tools can improve medical practices while ensuring patient safety should be the top priority for any advancements in the office setting. Each provider must consider the obstacles and advantages, ethical and regulatory obligations, and methods for minimizing risks when incorporating AI into their practice.

This program, presented by the Risk Management and Patient Safety experts at CAP, will provide practical guidance for safely and effectively integrating AI into medical practice operations.

At the conclusion of this activity, the learner will be able to:

Create and enact protocols and guidelines for incorporating AI technologies in medical practice operations, ensuring adherence to regulatory standards and protecting patient confidentiality and data integrity.
Utilize AI technology for documentation to enhance the accuracy, thoroughness, and efficiency of patient medical records.
Evaluate the existing system infrastructure and work closely with AI professionals and vendors to ensure successful integration of AI technologies.
Utilize AI technologies to engage patients in their care, enhance patient understanding, and improve communication between patients and healthcare providers.

*The Cooperative of American Physicians, Inc. is accredited by the California Medical Association (CMA) to provide
continuing medical education for physicians.

The Cooperative of American Physicians, Inc. designates this live course for a maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1
Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Our Risk Management and Practice Management Experts

CAP’s highly qualified speakers have a wealth of knowledge and experience to share with members, medical societies, and practices to help reduce risk and increase the quality of patient care. Our risk management program is facilitated by specialists whose backgrounds encompass a cross-section of the healthcare and legal professions. CAP also has a range of ancillary practice management programs to help you optimize the business side of practicing medicine. This comprehensive approach enables you keep up with the ever-changing practice management rules and regulations.

Dona Constantine, RN, BS

Risk Management

Dona Constantine, RN, BS

Risk Management

Prior to joining CAP’s Risk Management & Patient Safety team, Dona Constantine served in various positions throughout her career including Certified Emergency Nurse, Case Management Advisor, and Quality Manager. She was also the Director of Health Projects for the Foundation for Independence in Nicotine Dependence and the Executive Director of the National Alliance of Mental Illness Orange County.

Ms. Constantine is a graduate of Paradise Valley School of Nursing and she obtained a Legal Assistantship Certificate from University of California, Irvine. She earned her Bachelor of Health Science from Chapman University.

Bradford S. Dunkin, MHA

Brad Dunkin has spent his career dedicated to the professional liability and risk management field, providing consultation services to hospitals, physicians, and clinics on a broad spectrum of risk management topics endemic to the ever-changing and complex world of healthcare delivery and healthcare risk management and patient safety. Brad also develops and provides CME presentations on a variety of risk management topics with the goal of arming participants with knowledge and strategies to avoid liability pitfalls, reduce liability exposure, minimize claims, and improve patient safety and outcomes. Brad received his BA degree from the College of William and Mary in Virginia and his Masters (MHA) from the Medical College of Virginia.

Deborah Kichler, RN, MSHCA

Deborah Kichler is a Senior Risk Manager with the Cooperative of American Physicians, Inc. Prior to joining CAP, Ms. Kichler was a risk manager within the Quality/ Risk Management Department at St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton. While there, she managed the physician and allied health professional peer review and the Ongoing Professional Practice Evaluation (OPPE) processes. Her previous experience includes over eleven years in risk management, and eight years as a nurse in the cardiac telemetry unit for various hospitals. Ms. Kichler received her bachelor’s degree in Nursing from Mount St. Mary’s College and subsequently a Master of Science in Healthcare Administration from Cal State University, Long Beach.

Monica Ludwick, Pharm.D.

Monica Ludwick, Pharm.D. is one of CAP's Senior Risk Management and Patient Safety Specialists. Before joining CAP, she was Manager, Risk Management/Patient Safety/Quality for Adventist Health Glendale (formerly known as Glendale Adventist Medical Center). In addition to her substantial experience in pharmacology and risk management, Monica is actively involved in several professional organizations and has earned outstanding employee recognition multiple times during her career. She earned a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of California San Francisco, School of Pharmacy.

Douglas Shin

General Counsel

Douglas Shin

General Counsel

Douglas Shin is general counsel for the Cooperative of American Physicians, Inc. Mr. Shin directs a legal staff and outside counsel to deliver legal solutions to this industry-leading medical professional liability company. Mr. Shin earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, San Diego, and his law degree from Loyola Law School where he was a member of the Loyola Law Review.

Mr. Shin began his career as a legal intern for the technology transfer team at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and coauthored an article on the commercialization of intellectual property in central and eastern Europe. He also previously worked as a litigator, defending numerous clients in the general and medical malpractice liability, employment and healthcare arenas, including settlement of numerous matters and an arbitration.

Our Legal Experts

Since its inception in 1984, Schmid &Voiles has been dedicated to the defense of CAP members. The firm’s attorneys in Los Angeles, Orange County, San Jose, and San Diego have a single-minded goal of obtaining the best result for their physician clients. The profiles of the Schmid & Voiles attorneys shown below illustrate the depth and diversity of experience of attorneys who are dedicated to the defense of medical professionals in California.

Robert Fessinger

Managing Attorney, Orange County, San Diego, Walnut Creek

Robert Fessinger

Managing Attorney, Orange County, San Diego, Walnut Creek

Since 1991, Robert Fessinger has devoted his practice to the defense of doctors and hospitals throughout California. He has handled every aspect of medical malpractice defense litigation, from case inception through discovery and trial. He has successfully defended physicians in trials and binding arbitrations as well as handling class-action matters against healthcare providers.

In 2005, Mr. Fessinger relocated his practice to the San Diego office of Schmid & Voiles. Sharing his knowledge and insight, he frequently is asked to lecture to claims specialists, doctors, and attorneys. Mr. Fessinger is a 1991 graduate of the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law. As part of his legal training, Robert attended London’s Regents College, Inns of Court, where he studied under Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy.

Denise Greer

Managing Attorney, Law and Motion

Denise Greer

Managing Attorney, Law and Motion

Specializing in arbitration agreement enforcement and appellate advocacy, Denise H. Greer is an accomplished trial attorney that has successfully tried and arbitrated cases on behalf of CAP members.

Before her admission to the State Bar, Ms. Greer served as an operating room nurse in various units at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. For nearly eight years, she was instrumental in initiating and operating the Outpatient Surgery Center at Cedars and was the Lead Operating Room Nurse of the Gynecologic/Oncology Service. While at Cedars, Greer served as a member, and later as Head of the Operating Room Quality Assurance Committee.

A graduate of the University of the State of New York in Albany with a bachelor’s degree in Nursing, Ms. Greer attended Southwestern University School of Law in Los Angeles, earning her law degree in 1988. While at Southwestern, she gained recognition as a candidate for the Paul Wildman Scholarship, was a Dean’s Merit Scholarship recipient, and received the American Jurisprudence Award for Excellence in Sales.

Michael Lamb

Managing Attorney, Los Angeles

Michael Lamb

Managing Attorney, Los Angeles

Since 1982, Michael V. Lamb has specialized in the defense of physicians and hospitals. After working as an associate with Rushfeldt, Shelley & McCurdy for seven years, in 1989 he became a founding partner in Elliot, Lamb, Leibl & Snyder, a 17-attorney firm specializing in medical malpractice defense. As a trial attorney, Lamb has successfully defended physicians on numerous occasions in both the Superior Court and arbitration. Immediately prior to joining Schmid & Voiles in 1997, he gained insight into the plaintiff’s bar, working at Grassini & Wrinkle, where he prevailed at trial in a legal malpractice case.

Following his graduation from Pepperdine University School of Law, Malibu and his admission to the California State Bar in 1979. Mr. Lamb worked as a claims representative and supervisor for The Travelers Insurance Co., handling legal malpractice claims for nearly three years. Mr. Lamb received his undergraduate degree in Political Science from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where he graduated with distinction.

Margaret Cahill

With a dual background in nursing and law, Margaret Cahill joined CAP as a claims specialist in 2003 and joined Schmid & Voiles in early 2009. Prior to CAP, her law practice from 1988 through 1993 included medical malpractice defense of hospitals and other personal-injury claims while employed by Madory, Booth, Zell & Pleiss. This was followed by 10 years in private practice at the Law Offices of Hardiman & Cahill, where she and her physician partner handled all aspects of medical malpractice and healthcare litigation, including defense of medical and nursing administrative actions. Ms. Cahill’s career includes federal court practice which resulted in several published and unpublished opinions after successful argument to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal and the state appellate courts.

Ms. Cahill earned her law degree in 1988 from Western State University’s College of Law, where she graduated in the top 20 percent of her class and earned several honors, including American Jurisprudence Awards in Criminal Law and Contract Law, as well as academic recognition on the Dean’s List. She received a bachelor’s degree in Laws from Western State University and had earlier received an associate of Applied Science degree in Nursing from Youngstown State University in 1979. She received National Honor Scores on her State Board exams. While attending law school, Ms. Cahill was employed as a registered nurse at the UC Irvine Medical Center and also was employed on a part-time basis handling medical malpractice claims for a private company.

Patrick Mayer

Since 1986, Patrick W. Mayer focused his practice of law on the representation and defense of healthcare professionals. From 1993 until joining Schmid & Voiles in 2002, he was a partner in a Century City law firm where he defended claims on behalf of physicians, medical groups, and institutional providers. His experience includes the successful resolution and trial to verdict in the Superior Court of numerous medical malpractice cases.

Mr. Mayer attained his Juris Doctorate in 1984 from Pepperdine University School of Law in Malibu, where he received the American Jurisprudence Award for Excellence in Real Property. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland.

Deborah S. Taggart

Since joining Schmid & Voiles in 1990, Deborah Taggart has become one of the firm’s most accomplished trial attorneys and has served as an arbitrator in binding arbitrations involving medical malpractice litigation. She joined the staff with 10 years of broad-based litigation expertise in both trials and arbitrations. From 1984 to 1990, Ms. Taggart represented healthcare providers while serving as a litigation associate with the law firm of Thelen, Marrin, Johnson & Bridges. She gained expertise in defending medical malpractice actions in both binding arbitrations and at jury trials.

Ms. Taggart received her Juris Doctorate with academic honors from Loyola University School of Law in Los Angeles. While attending Loyola, she participated in the Honor Society Speakers Program and Tutorial Project. Taggart’s undergraduate studies were completed at UCLA, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Psychology, Cum Laude, with a French minor. Before receiving her undergraduate degree, Ms. Taggart attended the Sorbonne at the University of Paris, where she studied French literature and art history.

Rodney G. Tomlinson

With a strong background in all areas of trial and arbitration, Rodney Tomlinson has specialized in the defense of healthcare providers since 1984, having tried and arbitrated to conclusion more than 50 cases involving complex medical and legal issues. A frequent speaker and lecturer, he shares his knowledge and insights with claims specialists, medical groups, residency programs, hospitals, and attorneys. Mr. Tomlinson’s presentation topics include effective risk management, efficient case handling, trial preparation, and successful arbitration practices.

Mr. Tomlinson earned his law degree in 1984 from the University of San Diego. While attending law school, he studied in England at the London Institute of International Comparative Law. He received his undergraduate degree at Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois.

Lawrence Wong

Lawrence Wong has been engaged in professional liability matters related to healthcare professionals since 1992. He began his legal career and gained specialized knowledge and proficiency in the defense of medical malpractice actions as an Associate Attorney in the Long Beach office of O’Flaherty & Belgum. In addition to his experience as a defense attorney, Mr. Wong also practiced on the plaintiff’s bar while working with a physician/lawyer specializing in catastrophic birth injury and products liability litigation and secured multi-million dollar awards.

Mr. Wong joined Schmid & Voiles in 1997 and devoted his practice exclusively to the defense of physicians throughout California. He is admitted to practice before the State and United States District Courts throughout California. He has been lead trial counsel in Superior Court trials and binding arbitrations since early 2000. Mr. Wong is a member of the prestigious American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), a national, by-invitation-only association of accomplished trial lawyers. He is also a frequent lecturer on the issue of navigating medical malpractice cases before physicians at numerous Southern California Hospitals and was a keynote presenter at the annual Convention of Osteopathic Family Physicians in 2018.

Mr. Wong is a 1992 graduate of California Western School of Law in San Diego, where he was a dean’s scholarship recipient. While an undergraduate student at University of California, Irvine, he participated in the Economics Honors Program and earned his bachelor’s degree in Economics. Mr. Wong is a Southern California native having gone to St. John’s Lutheran School and Lutheran High School of Orange County.

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