notifying patients of physician leaving practice florida notifying patients of physician leaving practice florida

Section 5-5: If a licensee ceases to engage in practice: Publish a notice and the established procedure for the obtaining of records in a newspaper of general circulation at least once a month for the first three months after the practice closes and forward a copy to the Board. A non-solicitation clause only prohibits solicitation. Before you make any decisions, revisit your employment contract and your states laws regarding the issue. The health care entity, which is the party responsible for maintaining custody of the medical record, should send the notice. State advises, the following requirements regarding closures must be met: each patient, resident, next of kin, physician and sponsor must be notified immediately upon receipt of the Department of Healths approval. Employment contracts usually reinforce this notion. The physician fails to give the patient at least 30 days notice in advance of the date on which the physicians withdrawal becomes effective. Ensuring that patients receive reasonable notification; Ensuring that patients are given an opportunity to obtain copies of their records or arrange for the transfer of their medical records to another physician; Specifying who has custodianship of the records; and, Advising how copies of the medical records may be obtained.. Texas Medical Board. Further, many deferred-compensation arrangements are linked to the amount of notice given. Before leaving, she asked for a list of patients she treated while employed at URMC, and URMC provided her with a spreadsheet containing the protected health information (PHI) of 3,403 patients. Placing a sign on the door of the closed practice only works if the space will not have future tenants. Copyright 1997-2023 TMLT. You should review the details of your plan so that you do not unwittingly forfeit significant amounts of retirement money. Although the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) prohibits the unauthorized disclosure of PHI, the NP disclosed the PHI to her new employer, GRN, without the patients authorization. These functions included taking phone calls from existing patients with treatment-related questions. A physician can perform acupuncture under his/her medical license as long as he/she is properly trained and educated in the field of acupuncture. This settlement addresses several questions that often arise when a physician (or other health care professional) departs a hospital or medical group (health care entity). According toRule 64B8-10.002(3), FAC : A licensed physician shall keep adequate written medical records, as required by Section458.331(1)(m), Florida Statutes, for a period of at least five years from the last patient contact; however, medical malpractice law requires records to be kept for at least seven years. The scope of practice of CNAs, as well as other nursing professions (RN, APRN, etc.) 2. In healthcare, this tug of war can implicate another stakeholder: the patient. . URMCs Privacy and Security Executive Committee formed a task force to review the hospitals privacy and security requirements and the protocol for disclosure of PHI with respect to departing and incoming workforce members. Texas Medical Liability Trust Resource Hub, Physicians who are retiring, closing, or leaving a practice can notify patients electronically and by posting a notice on their practice website, according to rules from the Texas Medical Board (TMB). https://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/nrs-630.html#NRS630Sec304, NH Rev Stat 329:9 Section: Med 501.02 Standards of Conduct. The employee pulls in the other direction, seeking to narrow the non-solicitation clause to reduce its impact on future work opportunities. It must protect the patients medical record and not release it without patient authorization. The first example letter for notifying patients of a physician leaving their practice comes from Medical Center Clinic. A physician may diagnose, prescribe, and administer treatment to individuals suffering from injury or disease. Typically, a non-competition provision prohibits an employee from joining or starting a competitor business. (3) A copy of the posted notices shall be submitted to the TMB within 30 days from the date of termination, sale, or relocation of practice. (ii) Publishing a notice in the newspaper of greatest general circulation in each county in which the physician practices or practiced and in a local newspaper that serves the immediate practice area; AND https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6140270/, Additional Resources: The Missouri State Medical Association offers, Be sure to notify your patients regarding your retirement. Therefore, patients should be given reasonable advance notice to allow their securing other care. Apply Renew Maintain Practice Information Determine whether solicitation of employees is prohibited. A practice may opt to send a letter to patients about the departure of a physician, but is generally not legally required to do so, and a physician also generally has no legal right to send such letter independently in violation of their contract (and using a practice patient list). A threshold requirement for a malpractice claim premised on patient abandonment is that there is a patient-provider relationship. The University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) recently agreed to pay a $15,000 penalty for providing patient names, addresses, and diagnoses to a departing nurse practitioner (NP) without first obtaining authorization from those patients. Has caused to be published, in the newspaper of greatest circulation in each county in which the physician practices or practiced and in a local newspaper that serves the immediate practice area, a notice which shall contain the date of such retirement or sale that offers to provide the patients records or copies thereof to another provider of the patients choice, and if the patient so requests, to the patient. Dont hesitate to contact an attorney if you have any questions. It may, if it chooses, permit the physician to have input as to the text of the notice. Is a list of patient names without information about the patients medical condition considered PHI? Your contract may contain provisions against your soliciting the employment of existing employees of the practice. Laura Hale Brockway is the Vice President of Marketing at TMLT. The statute adopts the concept of a "records owner." A "records owner" may or may not be a physician. However, the provider can arrange for the employer to give the notice on the providers behalf. The Medical Center suspended and ultimately terminated the nurse practitioner and treated the incident as a reportable breach. All of this increases the likelihood that you or one of your colleagues will leave your current practice. For example, some retirement plans require an employee to work the entire year prior to becoming eligible. Your careful attention to these details will ensure a smooth transition to a new practice. California health care entities should review CMA guidance before sending the notice. First, ensure proper notice is provided to patients as well as all interested governmental entities and other organizations. Some require an extraordinarily long notice period (such as one year) before the physician can qualify for deferred compensation payments. A physician must give notice to patients of his or her leaving or closing a practice, otherwise face a possible claim of patient abandonment. The legal guidelines regarding patient notification vary for each state. Mustafa Kinaan has shown his dedication to the Central Florida community throughout his graduate medical education (GME) journey. Should patients be notified of the physicians departure? A physician shall ensure that emergency medical care is available to the patient during the 30-day period following notice of the termination of the physician-patient relationship., https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/iac/rule/09-22-2010.653.13.7.pdf, Kansas Board of Healing Arts (a regulatory board created by legislature for the purpose of education, administration, regulation enforcement) advises providers follow AMA Guidelines. However, here are a few baseline recommendations: For example, a common suggestion is to place repeating local newspaper ads to notify the public of a closing practice. 3. If you had signed a non-compete, you would refer them to the other providers in your practice. Podiatrists are licensed and regulated by the Florida Board of Podiatric Medicine. The notice must include an explanation of how copies of the facilitys records may be accessed by patients. Med 10.03.2 (o) states, Patient abandonment occurs when a physician without reasonable justification unilaterally withdraws from a physician-patient relationship by discontinuing a patients treatment regimen when further treatment is medically indicated and any of the following occur: 1. Some states even require or suggest 30 days prior written notice before a departure so that patients will have sufficient time to transfer their records if they desire to change physicians. When Would My Healthcare Practice Use a Promissory Note? This content is owned by the AAFP. The health care entity has the dual role of safeguarding the medical record while facilitating continuity of care. Title: Retention of medical records and patient notification upon closure of a practice Number: OP04 -29 References: Board Minutes January 23, 2004, April 2, 2004; November 7, 2014; September 11, 2020 . The answer is yes. http://164.64.110.134/parts/title16/16.010.0017.html, Additional Resources: The New Mexico Medical Society offers, Closing Your Practice Guide: Confidentiality clauses usually define patient information and records generated during the providers employment as the practices property. Are you a healthcare provider considering a new employment agreement with a non-solicitation clause? See the bottom of this page for a state-by-state comparison of the available guidelines. If the restrictive covenant specifically prohibits the physician from treating patients he saw while employed with his former employer, there is case law that indicates a physician may not be able to treat the patient regardless of who establishes first contact. Often practices and departing physicians will agree on what to tell patients who inquire about the tenure of the departing physician. http://www.nmms.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/closing_your_practice_2016_revised_-_pcs_0.pdf. Abandonment occurs when a physician withdraws his services after a physician-patient relationship has been established, by failing to give notice to the patient of the physicians intention to withdraw in sufficient time to allow the patient to obtain necessary medical care. If you use certified, return receipt mail, you can place a copy of the letter and return receipt in the patients file in case there is ever an issue of notification., https://www.albme.gov/resources/licensees/practice-issues, Alaska State Medical Board adopted AMA policy No. As these examples show, non-solicitation does not mean no contact. To prevent this, you need to procure a supplemental endorsement policy, commonly referred to as tail coverage, which appends to the primary policy and insures you for claims made after your employment terminates. 4. Review advance notice provisions. The KBHA serves as a great resource to physicians. The comparison is intended to serve as a resource to help retiring physicians and closing practices navigate their obligations and avoid regulatory penalties as a result of the patient notification process. Such clauses generally cover a specific geographic area and period of time. A provider who has not solicited a patient cannot, and should not, encounter barriers to providing treatment to that patient. Ensure that their records can be transferred to another health care provider as requested by the patient, and c. Whenever possible, notice shall be provided at least 30 days prior to cessation of treatment; and (10) After transfer of the licensees medical records which meets the requirements of (9) above, the licensee shall be relieved of further responsibility for complying with requests for copies of records., http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/rules/state_agencies/med100-600.html, State advises in Section 1-15, The doctor must notify the patient, in writing, that he/she will no longer provide care as a date certain, which cannot be less than thirty days prior to the termination date.