PRMS Blog

Several of us at PRMS were talking the other day about the number of violent incidents in just the past few weeks where the alleged perpetrator was said to be mentally ill. Perhaps it’s our professional sensitivity to news events involving the mentally ill, or it could be that we’re located in Virginia and the negligence trial against Virginia Tech, arising from the mass murder ...

Converting from paper to electronic health records may clear out some office clutter; however, doing so will not, on its own, improve patient care and safety. Electronic health records (EHRs) and other health information technology come with their own set of safety issues. For example, EHR systems that do not fit well within the workflow of your office or facility are of great ...

One of the hallmarks of an expert is that he or she makes the work look easy. We’ve all had the experience of watching a professional athlete and thinking, “With a little practice, anybody could do that.” Or you watch a roofer working on your neighbor’s house and think “He gets paid $150 an hour just to pound nails. That’s so easy.” Watching an expert cook is the worst, because ...

The issue of potential boundary violations surrounding chat rooms is a risk concern because avoiding inappropriate relationships can be more difficult with cyberspace interactions than with face-to-face interactions. The use of pseudonyms may also lead to an inability to recognize patients online. An additional risk is the increased potential for sexual misunderstandings in onl ...

We have been working diligently to finalize plans for all of our risk management programs for 2012. I’m pleased to announce that it is finally done! Who knew it would take so long to finalize plans for just six events! We hope you can join us for at least one – April 4, 2012: 4 CME hour course in Philadelphia, PA April 9, 2012: 4 CME hour course in Philadelphia, PA (repeat of c ...

We hope that you have been following us on Twitter. In addition to risk management tips and events PRMS staff will be attending, we also include new clinical research and other news of interest to psychiatrists. Here is a sampling of past tweets: • Notification of the issuance of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ guidelines for ADHD • NEJM study on ADHD drugs and cardiovascu ...

PRMS staff spend a lot of time on the road, traveling to meet and talk with our customers, and prospective customers, wherever they may be.  In the past year, we’ve attended more than 20 psychiatric-specific meetings including: – APA district branch meetings – APA Annual Meeting – US Psychiatric Congress, – American Society of Addiction Medicine, – American Association for Ger ...

How’s your new exercise program going? Have you lost five pounds yet? Mine’s going nowhere and I’ve gained weight. More importantly, have you stuck to your resolution to improve your risk management skills? We make it easy for you.  We have short, focused papers on the issues that bedevil psychiatrists in their daily practices: – Do I have to release this patient’s record to he ...

American Medical News (Jan 9, 2012) reported in a short item that the average cost of defending a medical malpractice claim (all specialties, nationwide) rose 63% between 2001 and 2010 to over $47,000. This highlights an important but often overlooked point about medical malpractice insurance. Psychiatry is a low-risk specialty in the two key measures that actuaries use to asse ...

A Guest Blog by Rich Stagnato, PRMS Accounts Representative If you are not employed by a hospital or government facility, you will likely need your own medical malpractice policy. You should research your medical malpractice insurance and risk management needs by reviewing policy and feature differences. Ultimately, you have to feel comfortable that the people you are buying y ...