Practice Management News and Education

If you’re planning to purchase or lease new office space in the coming year – or just need expert support renegotiating your current lease – you’ll definitely want to speak with a dedicated physician consultant from Bailes & Associates, a valued CAPAdvantage* program vendor.

The results are in and the answer is yes! The Ponemon Institute interviewed more than 2,200 IT, data protection, and compliance professionals from over 450 companies that had a recent data breach, and its 2018 Cost of a Data Breach Study: Global Overview reveals lessons from which we can all learn.

CAP members face a variety of challenges in their medical practice in addition to lawsuits by patients. CAP members may also encounter Medical Board inquiries, regulatory investigations or complaints about Medicare/Medicaid fraud or abuse, and even discrimination lawsuits brought by former or current employees.

If there is a list somewhere of phrases that will spur disagreement among physicians, certainly “curbside consult” would be included. One case shows how easy access to electronic health records can affect how involved a physician will be perceived in a particular case. A young mother was on hospital premises with her son, who was being treated for Mast Cell Activation Syndrome. The mother began to experience acute illness and self-injected two doses of epinephrine, which she carried because of her own history of anaphylaxis.

As an organization run by and committed to the success of our physician members, CAP offers you a full array of services beyond your medical professional liability coverage to help you operate a safer, more successful medical practice. Human resources support is just one example of those services.

According to the Medical Board of California 2017-2018 Annual Report, the Board’s Enforcement Program received 10,188 complaints against physicians, surgeons, and unlicensed individuals. This reflects an increase of 1,269 complaints (nine percent) over the prior fiscal year. The Board also referred 504 cases to the Attorney General for further action, an increase of more than 18 percent over the prior year.

What do you do when a patient comes into your office with a dog? Tell them to leave? Allow the dog no matter what? The answer is that it depends. Service dogs are governed by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the California Disabled Persons Act (CDPA), the Unruh Civil Rights Act, and the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). 

It depends… The Medical Board of California (MBC) cautions, “Physicians should view carefully his or her decision to allow medical assistants to perform this task.” It is not the physical act of picking up a phone and dialing a number that is of concern.

CAP's Risk Management and Patient Safety Department offers the following guidelines to help physicians who are retiring or otherwise closing or selling their practice, or for those handling the estate of a deceased physician.

Risk management has always been a central component of CAP’s strategy to help its member physicians. Through its Risk Management Program, CAP provides a unique blend of services designed to help member physicians control the risks inherent in today’s practice of medicine and, thus, mitigate potential claims.