PRMS Blog

With the news of the Germanwings co-pilot having been treated for mental health issues, and from what we’re learning as officials continue to investigate the horrific crash, many people are wondering about a patient’s privacy versus a mental health provider’s obligation to warn. There are differences in the standards for making decisions about medical privacy versus public saf ...

I’ve been educating physicians on the risks of electronic health records (EHRs) for years, including the risk of harm to patients. Now I note that The Joint Commission on March 31st issued Sentinel Event Alert 54, Safe Use of Health Information Technology, which includes examples of how adverse events may occur through the use of EHRs. Here are just some potential patient safe ...

Psychiatrists know the importance of treating people living with psychiatric disorders but in recent years, psychiatric care has become more difficult to access. One reason is the number of new psychiatrists coming out of medical school is not keeping up with demand. The Ohio Psychiatric Physicians Foundation (OPPF) – the non-profit charitable foundation of the Ohio Psychiatri ...

Having defended cases brought against our insured psychiatrists since the 1986, we know that patient suicide/attempted suicide is one of the top two allegations brought against psychiatrists in medical malpractice cases, the other being medication-related issues. We also know that assessing for suicide risk is critical to understanding the patient’s condition and developing an ...

This week’s MMWR from the CDC addresses suicide trends among persons aged 10-24 years from 1994-2012. The study’s findings include: • Suicide is the second leading cause of death among 10-24 year olds in the US • There were 5,178 suicides in this age group in 2012 • The three most common methods are firearm, suffocation (including hanging), and poisoning (including drug overdos ...

A frequent call to our risk management helpline goes something like this: Physician: I’m treating a minor patient whose parents are divorced. Dad has not been involved in treatment but is now requesting a copy of my chart. Mom doesn’t want me to share anything with dad, so what do I do? Risk Manager: Do you have a copy of the custody order? Physician: No So we then start the di ...

In today’s New York Times, there’s an article discussing a recently released annual survey titled “The American Freshman: National Norms Fall 2014.” More than 153,000 freshmen from 227 US colleges and universities responded on a variety of topics, and the findings include: – They were more likely to aspire to advanced degrees – Self-rated spirituality declined – Alcohol and to ...

The New York Times reports that over the weekend a seven-alarm fire at CitiStorage, a warehouse in the Williamsburg area of Brooklyn, destroyed and/or displaced the medical records of numerous New York physicians and facilities. If you are one of the affected physicians, there are several steps you can take: – Call your professional liability insurance company to report a possi ...

There’s a new online JAMA article entitled Mandatory Use of Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs in which the authors state the following: “22 of the 49 states with PDMPs now legally mandate prescribers to query the system before writing for controlled substances with recognized potential for abuse or dependence.” To me, that statement seemed too broad to be true, as I’m only ...

Are you are thinking about adding e-prescribing to your practice? Or do you practice in New York (where you must begin e-prescribing by March 27th) and don’t know where to start? Here’s what you need to know: 1. Understand the law – federal and state Most federal law relevant to e-prescribing involves electronic prescribing of controlled substances (EPCS). The software vendor m ...