By Tom Murphy We are reminded almost daily of the consequences of a mentally ill person is being allowed to work in a profession in which they place others at risk, in addition to themselves. Some examples are police, military, aviation, and even school-bus drivers. This sometimes-fatal combination reminds us of the ongoing argument about

By Tom Murphy The Office of Civil Rights (OCR), a division of Health and Human Services (HHS), is the entity within the federal governments responsible for enforcing HIPAA. This is the storing, accessing and sharing of personal health information (PHI). The OCR has provided a list of the top five HIPAA compliance issues they have

By Tom Murphy Behavioral healthcare, and specifically addiction treatment, is rapidly growing and changing as the United States tries to move away from the failed “war on drugs” to the “demand reduction” model. Additionally, the Affordable Care Act has not only increased the number of insured patients seeking care, it has managed to bring behavioral

By Tom Murphy Along with the evolution of electronic health records (EHR) comes the potentially expensive reality of data breaches and theft for all medical practices, both large and small. Many physicians and practice administrators still believe their practice is too small to be a target for hackers. Everything we have seen over the past

By Bill Gompers Healthcare providers, by the nature of their business, always face liability risks. Although many of these risks can be lessened through implementation of risk-management practices, they can rarely be eliminated. Thus, it is prudent to implement a liability-insurance program that addresses the healthcare provider’s needs and ensures your peace of mind should

By Wes Caldwell What is Business Overhead Expense? Business overhead expense (BOE) disability coverage reimburses the practice for the fixed practice expenses attributable to the disabled physician. The policy is short term in nature with a 60 to 90 day waiting period and a 12 to 24 month benefit period. For the solo practitioner, it

“Social media” is simply a broad umbrella term that covers a wide range of electronic communication tools, such as email, social networking websites, blogs, video sharing and conferencing tools, mobile applications, and more. The growth and usage of social media continue to influence not only the American public, but the world at large. Estimates suggest

By Laura M. Cascella, MA Improving communication among healthcare providers is a topic that, without doubt, is familiar to most physicians and dentists. Although this concept may seem to receive a disproportionate amount of emphasis, research continues to show that poor communication contributes to many medical errors and is “a top reason for team mishaps

Med Pro Group Patient Safety & Risk Solutions Are you and those associated with your practice committed to the concept of quality of care? If so, then you already know that communication is the foundation for all of the interactions that promote patient safety, staff cooperation, and business excellence. What steps do you take to

The Medical Protective Company Most healthcare providers know that a patient's signature on an informed consent document may not automatically make the consent valid. The same is true of informed refusal. Both of these concepts rely on ethical and legal guidelines that acknowledge the right of competent adults to determine the course of their health