PRMS Blog

While you’re trying to figure out the meaning of the title of this post, I want to talk about passwords on your electronic devices and digital accounts. First, please tell me you have protected all of your devices – your desktop computer, your laptop, your smartphone, your tablet, even your old-fashioned “dumb” cell phone – with passwords. An unprotected device in the hands of ...

We came across data on the rate that psychiatrists are using EHRs (electronic health records). The data was published by Medscape.com for a study of the percentage of various specialists who are making “meaningful use” of EHRs. You can find the survey here (registration required). The pertinent slides are #24, 25, and 26. The key point is that 7% of psychiatrists responding to ...

Most physicians understand the basics of US civil law: (1) physicians owe a duty of care to their patients – and perhaps to others who may be harmed by a patient; (2) the yardstick by which their performance is measured is called “the standard of care”; (3) if they fail to practice consistent with the standard of care, they can be held responsible for damages suffered by those ...

You’ve probably noticed, with some sense of “We told you so,” that the various governmental bodies in the US are beginning to question whether they’ve cut too deeply into what was an already tattered safety net for the mentally ill. They are also questioning whether the pendulum has swung too far towards protecting the confidentiality of the mentally ill at the expense of the p ...

There has been a flurry of news affecting psychiatrists recently, including, but not limited to: – President Obama’s list “Gun Violence Reduction Executive Actions” which includes, among 21 others, these actions: – “Clarify that the Affordable Care Act does not prohibit doctors from asking their patients about guns in their homes.” – “Release a letter to health care providers c ...

Three and a half minutes. Do you have 3.5 minutes to spare? If you do, watch the following video from David Cash, JD, LLM, our Assistant Vice President of Risk Management.  He’ll give you six pointers on simple things you can do now to improve the quality of the psychiatric care you provide your patients while making it much less likely that you will be sued successfully for th ...

We’re a few days into 2013 and you’ve probably been able to keep your New Year’s resolutions so far. But if you haven’t, or if you haven’t made any and you need some suggestions, you’ve come to the right place. Here are PRMS’ recommendations for 2013 resolutions… 1. I will have an understanding of what is required by the HIPAA regulations, such as the Privacy Rule and the Secur ...

On behalf of everyone at PRMS, best wishes for a new year of happiness and good health. Throughout the year, it has been our privilege to work with you.   We look forward to continuing to serve you. In lieu of holiday cards and gifts, we will make a donation to a charitable organization. This year we have again chosen the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)  http://www.n ...

The last half of December can be a slow time in medical offices, even for psychiatrists. May I suggest that if you have some free time over the next few weeks, you do some homework? It’s not hard, and there’s just a simple self-test.  But what you learn may pay huge dividends down the road.  The assignment: read your professional liability insurance policy! Once you’ve read it, ...

“That could never happen here…” Every human being since the beginning of time has, at least once, reflected on another human’s foibles and said, “Well I never would have done that,” or “That could never happen here.” Sometimes the wording is, “No one I know would ever do that.” The problem is that even if we have only a shard of cold insight into our hearts, we know how close w ...