October 22nd is National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day The National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day aims to provide a safe, convenient, and responsible means of disposing of prescription drugs, while also educating the general public about the potential for abuse of medications. September 27, 2016 Community, Riverside County Community Opioids, Drugs, National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day, October 22 0 0 Comment Read More »
Liability Risks of Telemedicine: State Standards Among Considerations Telemedicine utilization growth continues at an impressive rate. According to the FAIR Health database (the largest repository of private healthcare claims), telemedicine use in the U.S. nearly doubled between 2007 and 2015. Over half of all U.S. hospitals now use some form of telemedicine, according to the American Telemedicine Association. Telemedicine is widely credited with improving patient access, cost efficiencies and quality of care. This and increasingly favorable state and federal telemedicine legislation may explain the rapid increase in its utilization. Despite the advantages, telemedicine has liability risks, such as privacy, security, patient confidentiality, credentialing and misdiagnosis due to a lack of continuity of care. Additionally, the soft skills that may come naturally in a personal patient encounter may need to be adjusted for electronic encounters. Telemedicine providers should evaluate their “webside” manner. For example, equipment needs to be positioned to simulate direct eye contact; active listening cues may need to be exaggerated; posture and facial expressions may need adjustment and sessions must be started and ended appropriately. Seemingly minor electronic communication strategies can significantly affect the success of a telemedicine encounter. September 7, 2016 Practice Management, Resources, Risk Management Patient Care, Professional Liability, Risk Management, Telemedicine , Virtual 0 0 Comment Read More »
Reducing the Risks of Abandonment Claims Terminating a physician-patient relationship is appropriate and ethical in a variety of circumstances. However, if the relationship is not ended appropriately, a physician could be liable for patient abandonment or for failure to diagnose or treat a condition. August 23, 2016 Practice Management, Resources, Risk Management Risk Management, Termination, Patient, Practice Mangement 0 0 Comment Read More »
3 Steps To Responding To Negative Online Comments The growth of online physician rating sites is causing a lot of physicians to feel like they’re losing control of their reputations. When seeing negative comments online, it’s natural for professionals to want to respond immediately to defend their reputations. But is that always the best course of action? August 10, 2016 Practice Management, Resources Comments, Rating, Reputation 0 0 Comment Read More »
2016 RCMA Annual Outstanding Contribution Awards The RCMA is soliciting nominations to recognize and honor deserving individuals for the 2016 Annual Outstanding Contributions Awards. July 7, 2016 RCMA/CMA 2016, Awards, Outstanding, RCMA 0 0 Comment Read More »
Nominations Solicitation The CMA Committee on Nominations is now seeking nominations for elections of Mode of Practice delegates and alternate delegates for the 2016-2018 terms, which begins July 1, 2016 and runs through June 30, 2018. March 24, 2016 RCMA/CMA Mode of Practice, CMA, Committee, Delegates, Nominations 0 0 Comment Read More »
2015 Meaningful Use Exception Deadline: July 1, 2016 Because of a delay in the publication of regulations governing the Medicare meaningful use program, CMS is allowing eligible physicians and hospitals to apply for an exception under the “extreme and uncontrollable circumstances” category. January 27, 2016 Health Information Technology (HIT), Legislation, Medicare, Resources Meaningful Use 0 0 Comment Read More »
The California End of Life Option Act On October 5, 2015, California became the fifth state in the nation to allow physicians to prescribe terminally ill patients medication to end their lives. ABX2-15, the "End of Life Option Act," permits terminally ill adult patients with capacity to make medical decisions to be prescribed an aid-in-dying medication if certain conditions are met. (ABX2-15, Stats. 2015, Ch.1; Health & Safety Code §§443 et seq.) This document discusses the requirements of the End of Life Option Act. January 20, 2016 California Legislation, Legislation ABX2-15, End-Of-Life, On-Call, POLST 0 0 Comment Read More »
Why it’s important to verify your patients' eligibility and benefits for 2016 With the new year soon upon us, physicians are urged to be diligent in verifying patients' eligibility and benefits to ensure they will be paid for services rendered. The beginning of a new year means calendar year deductibles and visit frequency limitations reset. With open enrollment there may also be changes to patients’ benefit plans, or patients may even be covered by a new payor. January 4, 2016 Health Care Reform, Resources Covered California, deductible, eligibility, enrollment, Medicare, practice managment 0 0 Comment Read More »
2015 Legislative Wrap Up It is difficult to imagine, but the 2015 legislative year was even more challenging than the 2014 legislative year, which included the diversion of staff resources to defeat Proposition 46. With a third of legislators (40 out of 120) serving freshman terms, the California Medical Association’s (CMA) Government Relations staff spent a considerable amount of time during the first quarter educating new legislators and their staff about the mission and policies of CMA. Through our educational efforts, we successfully stopped the introduction of a number of harmful legislative proposals and shifted focus to the passage of CMA’s sponsored bill package. December 1, 2015 California Legislation, Legislation Vaccines, CURES, Physician Aid-in-Dying, Scope of Practice, Workers' Comp 0 0 Comment Read More »
