PRMS Blog

Have you accessed your state’s PMP lately? Unless you practice in Missouri, the only wrong answer to the question is, “What’s a PMP?” The acronym stands for Prescription Monitoring Program, and Missouri is the only state that has not established one.  So what is it? Here is the definition, according to the Alliance of States with Prescription Monitoring Programs. What is a Pres ...

A man named John Rosemond is licensed in North Carolina as a psychologist.  For over 30 years, Mr. Rosemond has written a syndicated newspaper column that is carried by a couple hundred local papers throughout the country.  He has also written a number of books about his main topic: parenting. (For the record, I don’t believe I’ve ever seen or read his column, and I don’t know ...

A few days ago, an Asiana Airlines 777 crash-landed at San Francisco International Airport.  The comments from the talking heads on TV as well as the general public were predictable: “How could an accident like this happen?” and “It’s a miracle that only two people out of the more than 300 aboard were killed” and “I’ll never feel safe flying again.”  Relatively few noted that i ...

Just recently, the Illinois legislature set aside a psychologist prescribing bill after initially supporting it.  (The Illinois Psychiatric Society’s president, Eldon Trame, MD, gives a nice summary of the whole process here.) What led me to explore what happened in Illinois was an article in the most recent issue of Psychiatric Times, “Why Psychiatrists Are Physicians First,” ...

I wanted to follow up on Martin’s blog from last week on bullying.   In today’s digital age, a new form of bullying has arisen – cyberbullying.  According to the Cyberbullying Research Center, cyberbullying is defined as “willful and repeated harm inflicted through the use of computers, cell phones, and other electronic devices.”   Cyberbullying has some unique characteristics, ...

Most weeks there are a few interesting news items that spark an idea for the weekly posting – but this week there’s a superabundance of material in a supplement to the Journal of Adolescent Health’s July edition. The supplement focuses on the manifold aspects of bullying on the health of the bullied, the bullying and those who witness it. Societal attitudes towards bullying hav ...

Let’s face it, the practice of psychiatry is one that is often quite challenging and mitigating the risks associated with this responsibility requires both a solid risk management plan and a working knowledge of the emerging trends within your specialty.   Every day psychiatrists and other behavioral health professionals contact our risk management team to receive expert guidan ...

The title of this post is shown in quotation marks because it’s exactly how the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the U.S. House Committee on Labor and Commerce styled a hearing held on April 26, 2013. The witness statements and other material submitted to the Subcommittee can be found here. The chair of the subcommittee, Hon. Tim Murphy of the 18th District of Pe ...

Doctors in every specialty today are wrestling with a key question: What is the price of independent practice, and is the price worth it? Increasingly, their answer is “The price is too high; I’m ready to sell.” A recent article in Medical Economics (free registration required) highlighted the issue: Independent Physician: 6 steps you can take to remain independent – for now (A ...

On behalf of the PRMS employees who represented PRMS during the APA Annual Meeting, I thank all of you who made it a success. Many of you visited our hospitality suite to ask questions about your coverage and to apply for new coverage. Our risk management seminar was well attended, and our expanded use of the audience response system (ARS) by attendees was a hit. The course and ...