Vicarious Liability for Medical Assistant Negligence Medical assistants (MAs) can increase medical practice efficiency, patient satisfaction, and patient care quality. Increased satisfaction and quality can reduce malpractice liability risk. But MAs can also increase liability risk for their supervising/delegating clinicians and employers. Physician employers of MAs may be found vicariously liable for MAs’ negligent actions and may also be directly liable for negligent supervision, delegation, hiring, and/or training of MAs. Additionally, MAs who exceed their own scope of service to the degree that they are practicing medicine (or nursing), can expose the person delegating tasks to charges of aiding and abetting the unlicensed practice of medicine (nursing), which can result in board discipline and criminal prosecution. MAs who perform tasks outside of their scope can be charged with the unlicensed practice of medicine (nursing), which is a crime. This article focuses on what employers can do to reduce vicarious liability risk associated with MAs. August 30, 2024 Practice Management, RCMA/CMA, Resources, Risk Management 0 0 Comment Read More »
Workplace Bullying and Its Effect on Patient Safety and Liability Risk Exposure Bullying can decrease patient safety and increase liability risk. The stress, anger and frustration resulting from even mild incivility can interfere with working memory, which, in turn, adversely affects cognitive functions necessary for medical decision-making and procedural performance. Bullying undermines coordination, collaboration, teamwork, and communication, which are also essential to delivering safe patient care. June 3, 2024 Practice Management, RCMA/CMA, Resources, Risk Management 0 0 Comment Read More »
Treating Family: Liability, Ethics, and Professionalism A physician-patient relationship exists solely for the patient’s benefit. The very first code of medical ethics drafted by the American Medical Association (AMA) in 1847 recommended against physicians treating family members, stating, “the natural anxiety and solicitude which he [the physician] experiences at the sickness of a wife, a child . . . tend to obscure his judgment, and produce timidity and irresolution in his practice.” In addition to the current AMA code of ethics, several major medical professional associations generally discourage the provision of medical care for family members. March 12, 2024 Practice Management, RCMA, Resources, Risk Management 0 0 Comment Read More »
Is It Safe to Send That Text? The Patient Safety and Liability Risks Associated withText Messaging. Texting in a healthcare environment has risks and benefits. In the following article, Mary-Lynn Ryan, Senior Risk Management Consultant with ProAssurance shares ways to avoid risk when using text technology in your practice. November 14, 2023 Health Information Technology (HIT), Physician Wellness, Practice Management, RCMA, Resources, Risk Management , Riverside County Community Physicians, ProAssurance, RCMA, RCMA Docs, Risk Management, Texting Safety 0 0 Comment Read More »
The Impact of Unrealistic Productivity Expectations on Patient Safety Expectations to do more with less, in less time, contribute to medical errors and poor patient outcomes, which in turn increases medical liability exposure risk. Issues including poor workload planning, inadequate staffing, incentive systems, personal financial goals, and a culture that does not value safety over production can create unrealistic productivity expectations.Pressure to meet expectations can result in behaviors that impact patient safety. October 23, 2023 Physician Wellness, Practice Management, RCMA, Resources, Risk Management 0 0 Comment Read More »
2019 California Employment Law Update 2019 California Employment Law Update March 6, 2019 California Legislation, Legislation, Practice Management, Resources, Risk Management #MeToo, AB 2770, AB 3109, employee, employment, employment law, lactation accomodations, legal, minimum wage, minimum wage increase, pay equity, SB 1343 , sexual harassment, sexual harassment preventation, sexual harassment training, workplace compliance 0 0 Comment Read More »
Strategies for Increasing Patient Safety with Opioids Prescription Opioid Abuse: A Growing National Crisis April 3, 2018 Practice Management, Resources, Risk Management NORCAL, opioid, opioid abuse, risk management 0 0 Comment Read More »
On the Horizon: New Employment and Labor Laws Affecting California Employers in 2018 With the New Year upon us, we brace for the perennial tidal wave of California employment law changes of statutory tweaks, regulatory guidelines, and myriad new judicial decisions that will impact our clients. December 22, 2017 Practice Management, Resources, Risk Management 2018, Employment Law, Thakur Law Firm 0 0 Comment Read More »
3 Steps to Responding to Negative Online Comments Responding to the Challenge of Online Physician Ratings 3 Steps to Responding to Negative Online Comments July 17, 2017 Practice Management, Resources, Risk Management Reputation 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 »
