Practice Management News and Education

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 federal official has expressed hope that healthcare researchers and professionals will continue to have some kind of substitute resource following the scheduled July 16 shutdown of the National Guidelines Clearinghouse.

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.

CAP’s Human Resources Department offers a free customizable human resources manual designed to assist you in providing appropriate office policies for the management of your employees throughout the employment cycle. This comprehensive, customizable manual is designed exclusively for medical practices and has been updated with California employment laws as of May 2018.

By now, you know that a HIPAA breach not only can be costly and time-consuming, but can also jeopardize your relationship with patients who trust you to safeguard their privacy. Regardless of practice size or scope, no healthcare provider is immune from being penalized for a breach.

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.

Effective July 1, 2018, the California Legislature, under Senate Bill 189, will broaden the criteria for owners in some entity types to be eligible for exclusion on new and renewal policies.

Like many physicians, you may be burdened with administrative obligations that can make it difficult to balance outstanding clinical care with excellent customer service. But both play a critical role in the success of your practice.