Brush Up on How to Minimize Your Liability Exposure
Abstract
Take time to sit in on a few sessions that will bring you up to date on minimizing your risk with regard to disgruntled patients, risk management strategies, and information related to protecting patients’ privacy under difficult conditions.
How should you handle patients who feel that you have wronged them in some way? Not surprisingly, the more relevant question is how do you prevent problems from developing in the first place? Three risk-management sessions at APA’s 2019 Annual Meeting will help you do just that.
On Saturday, May 18, Moira Wertheimer, Esq., R.N., C.P.H.R.M., assistant vice president of the Risk Management Group of the APA-endorsed Professional Liability Insurer, will participate as a panelist in the session “The Aggrieved Patient: Challenges District Branches Face in Handling Complaints.”
Session Information
SATURDAY, MAY 18
1 p.m.-2:30 p.m.
The Aggrieved Patient: Challenges District Branches Face in Handling Complaints
Chairs: Brian Crowley, M.D., Corina Freitas, M.D., M.B.A., M.Sc.
MONDAY, MAY 20
3 p.m.-4:30 p.m.
Minimizing Risk in Psychiatry
Chair: Moira Wertheimer, Esq., R.N., C.P.H.R.M.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 22
8 a.m.-9:30 a.m.
Risk Management and Legal Considerations: Can I Communicate With My Patient’s Loved One?
Chair: Moira Wertheimer, Esq., R.N., C.P.H.R.M.
If you have questions about these sessions, please contact [email protected].
Panelists with extensive district branch and APA experience will identify common motivations for complaints, offer a typology of complaints and complainants, review case examples, and summarize useful operational strategies. Improvements to the process will be offered through a discussion of risk mitigation during the complaint process.
In the session “Minimizing Risk in Psychiatry” to be chaired by Wertheimer on Monday, May 20, attendees will gain an understanding of common claims alleged against psychiatrists, discuss current trends in litigation against psychiatrists, explore issues related to documentation and its impact on lawsuits, examine potential liability exposures, review case examples, and identify risk management strategies to minimize liability exposures.
On Wednesday, May 22, Wertheimer and Rebecca Brendel, M.D., J.D., vice chair of APA’s Ethics Committee and director of the master’s degree program at the Harvard Medical School Center for Bioethics, will lead the session “Risk Management and Legal Considerations: Can I Communicate With My Patient’s Loved One?” They will discuss permissible disclosures of patient health information (PHI) in situations in which the patient refuses to provide consent for communication with others, the patient is a minor but reaches the age of consent while in treatment, and situations arise in which the need to convey information to third parties about the patient’s treatment is vital. In addition, the presenters will review how to protect patient confidentiality when utilizing interpreters, assisted-listening devices, or a TTY to convey PHI and minimize identified risks and potential liability exposures. Particular attention will be paid to multicultural issues that can impact treatment. ■
This information is provided as a risk management resource and should not be construed as legal, technical, or clinical advice. This information may refer to specific local regulatory or legal issues that may not be relevant to you. Consult your professional advisors or legal counsel for guidance on issues specific to you. This material may not be reproduced or distributed without the express, written permission of Allied World Assurance Company Holdings, GmbH, a Fairfax company (“Allied World”). Risk management services are provided by or arranged through AWAC Services Company, a member company of Allied World.
