Under Florida law, when a licensed physician terminates practice, or relocates and is no longer available to patients, the physician must publicly announce their withdrawal from practice by publishing an announcement once a week, for four consecutive weeks. It is, however, not uncommon for employees to solicit the departing physician prior to departure. AMA Principles of Medical Ethics Opinion 1.1.5, (1) Notify the patient far enough in advance to permit the patient to secure another physician; and (2) Facilitate transfer of care when appropriate. The content of the notice will depend upon state law. Many physicians believe these covenants will not be enforced; however, the courts in most states will uphold them if they are reasonable. Anyone looking for information on this topic should be aware of the risk in assuming a simple internet search will provide clear and accurate information. Those remaining in the practice must be careful not to interfere with the departing physician fulfilling these responsibilities. University of Florida Levin College of Law UF Law Scholarship Repository State advises providers follow (1) AMA and (2) Louisiana State Medical Society Guidelines. This example is conceptual. For some, challenges come from [], All businesses know that protecting vital operational data and records is paramount in the digital landscape. At the same time, physicians are in high demand and have tremendous professional opportunities, ranging from starting a new practice to joining an existing one. The requirements of this rule shall not apply to a physician who has retired from or sold his or her medical practice if: Such physician has notified his or her active patients of retirement from or sale of practice by mail. 2. Review the practices established policies. This means that if a malpractice event occurs during your employment but the claim is not filed until after you have left the practice, the malpractice insurer will not cover that claim because it was not made during your term of employment. Determine whether solicitation of employees is prohibited. The physician fails to give the patient at least 30 days notice in advance of the date on which the physicians withdrawal becomes effective. https://www.texmed.org/Template.aspx?id=6676, The Vermont Guide to Healthcare Law by the Vermont Medical Society advises, In order to avoid a claim of abandonment, the physician should take several steps to terminate the physician-patient relationship. If you would like to learn how Lexology can drive your content marketing strategy forward, please email [emailprotected]. An inaugural UCF resident who served veterans as a chief resident and whose career goal is to cure diabetes is the new leader of the College of Medicine's endocrinology fellowship in greater Orlando. In March 2015, the NP was preparing to leave URMC for a position at Greater Rochester Neurology (GRN). The patients of a physician who leaves a group practice should be notified that the physician is leaving the group., https://www.commerce.alaska.gov/web/portals/5/pub/MED_Guide_Retiring_Closing_Leaving_Group.pdf, Arizona Revised Statutes Title 32. This makes it very unfair to a physician closing their practice and illustrates why the steps outlined here are important to help closing practices avoid trouble, ensure continuity of patient care, and achieve peace of mind. Common questions include: Navigating the line between non-solicitation and patient abandonment poses a challenge. When preparing your notifications: Looking at the closing medical practice notification guidelines of all 50 states, some are silent on providing guidance, while others provide a vague range of recommendations. (2). How long must a healthcare practitioner maintain a patients records? 2. workforce on policies and procedures related to PHI and notify the Attorney General of future breaches. Jennifer Bendokas, PA-C | White-Wilson Medical Center | Fort Walton Notices to Patients When a Physician Leaves a Group Practice If you are planning to make such a move, or to ask one of your partners to leave, follow these steps to avoid getting burned. The notice may be given by publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the area in which the health care facility is located. TMB rules for physicians who retire, close, or leave a practice 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). For the states that do not offer specific guidance on closing a medical facility and simply defer to AMA or state medical society guidelines, understand these are third-party sources are merely providing general guidance, and not legal or practice-specific advice. 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). Florida Board of Medicine General Office Practices/Protocol FAQs It must protect the patients medical record and not release it without patient authorization. A long notice period is often difficult for a non-retiring physician to give, but these issues deserve consideration. 1, Required notification of discontinuation of practice. Below we share both guidance from the State Board of Medical Examiners and information available from the Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA) indicating regulatory penalties that could be assigned for not ensuring patient access to records. A non-solicitation clause only prohibits solicitation. When Would My Healthcare Practice Use a Promissory Note? Mind These Legal Issues. Sources Negotiations over non-solicitation restrictions can play out like a game of tug of war. Mustafa Kinaan has shown his dedication to the Central Florida community throughout his graduate medical education (GME) journey. A copy of this notice shall also be submitted to the Board not less than one (1) month prior to the date of termination, sale, or relocation of the practice. Litigating a covenant, either from the employer or employees perspective, is expensive. OB/GYN Physician - Brand New Offices with Well-Established Group Practice 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. In this way, the provider might avoid claims of patient abandonment. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. What should be in the notice? Thus, regardless of who is responsible for procuring tail coverage, that party should provide a certificate of insurance to the other party. Such an approach may frustrate the provider who is leaving. 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. A physician who leaves or closes a practice must notify a host of persons of the change in status. We understand the process can feel daunting. The legal guidelines regarding patient notification vary for each state. Meanwhile, about one in three doctors and other health professionals say they intend to reduce work hours in the next 12 months, according to recently published survey research. The employer pulls in one direction, seeking to draft the non-solicitation clause broadly to protect against internal poaching of clients and staff. See the bottom of this page for a state-by-state comparison of the available guidelines. First, ensure proper notice is provided to patients as well as all interested governmental entities and other organizations. Your contract may contain provisions against your soliciting the employment of existing employees of the practice. For instance, providers who staff emergency departments, hospitalist programs, and urgent care centers render care that is episodic in nature. Courts have, however, held physicians liable for breach of non-solicitation agreements and misappropriation of trade secrets when Post the notification on the practice website. The employee pulls in the other direction, seeking to narrow the non-solicitation clause to reduce its impact on future work opportunities. Another helpful approach, particularly for specialized physicians, is to provide referrals to nearby practices or physicians offering similar types of care or services. The key is that the notice affords a reasonable time to find substitute care., See our related video, Patient Abandonment.. Confidentiality clauses usually define patient information and records generated during the providers employment as the practices property. This notice shall be no less than two columns wide and no less than two inches in height. If you mail notification letters to every patient and half return as undeliverable, can you feel confident that you provided reasonable notification? The key is to prevent patients from falling through the cracks because of tensions between the physician and the practice. Notification may be satisfied using any of the following methods: (1) by placing a notice in at least one newspaper in the local practice area; notice should advise patients where their medical records will be stored; notice should include any pertinent information the patient may need for obtaining or transferring the records, including the name, mailing address and telephone number of a contact person with access to the stored records; notification should run a minimum of two times per month for three months to reach a maximum number of patients; or (2) by written or electronic mail; or (3) by individual correspondence to the patients last known physical or electronic mail address. Departing Physicians and Patient Notification - Krugliak, Wilkins Every state has a long list of requirements to obtain and maintain a license to practice medicine, but when it comes to closing a practice, most states only offer (at best) guidelines for what to do when ending a practice, and some states offer no guidance at all. A notice in an email in a manner compliant with state . leaving a practice Within 90 days after a death . Notifying Patients of Physician Leaving Practice In all the steps we discussed above, you may have noticed that informing your patients about your departure is crucial. Before you make any decisions, revisit your employment contract and your states laws regarding the issue. While it may be convenient to resign shortly before Christmas so that you can spend the holidays at home, it could be a monumental mistake if it results in losing nearly one years worth of retirement benefits. The settlement arose from events in the spring of 2015. [], Smart hospitals and medical facility managers already know how to capture savings in health information management by [], Hospitals and healthcare providers are aways looking for opportunities to increase savings. The unique facts and circumstances related to a patients condition and care should be used to determine how much notice a patient should be given prior to the actual termination of the physician-patient relationship, and whether the physician should facilitate the transfer of care to another provider., Louisiana State Medical Society Guidelines The physician cannot abandon the patient. Dont risk falling short on your notification message which can result in charges of abandonment. Although he did not directly treat any patients within the restricted geography, the urologist did perform various administrative functions relating to his practice out of a home office with that radius. The office should notify patients as soon as possible to support continuity of care for the deceased physicians patients.2 As a first priority, the office staff should call patients with scheduled appointments so patients with immediate needs for a physician can find another healthcare provider. Practice fined for response to social media review, Dallas dental practice fined $10,000 after publishing PHI in response to a patient review on Yelp, Texting patients while staying HIPAA compliant. (i) Sending a letter to each patient; OR (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 There is no specific time period required. (Abandonment is defines as the termination of the physician patients relationship at an unreasonable time and without giving the patients the chance to find an appropriate replacement.) 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.. Keep a copy of the notification letter in the patient's record. 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. The following are best practices for notifying patients: Send current patients (i.e. A non-solicitation restriction may prevent the provider from issuing such notice directly.