Starting a medical practice comes with a host of considerations related to mitigating risks that must be carefully navigated for a compliant, secure, and successful operation. Contrary to popular belief, securing medical malpractice insurance covers only a fraction of the risks you may face.
We strongly recommend that physicians take a few extra steps to start on the right foot and safeguard their practice against internet defamation, difficult patients, frivolous litigation, and other common threats.
1. Make sure you are compliant with HIPAA
Patient privacy is paramount in healthcare, and HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) sets the standard for protecting sensitive patient information:
- Privacy Rule: Protects patients’ medical records and other personal health information. Your practice must have policies and procedures in place to comply.
- Security Rule: Requires safeguards to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and security of protected health information (PHI). This affects how you implement physical, electronic, and administrative safeguards to keep hard copies and digital information secure.
- Breach Notification Rule: Mandates that you notify patients and possibly other entities if there is a breach of unsecured PHI.
Be sure that all staff are trained in HIPAA, your digital assets are well-secured, and you have policies in place to protect patient information.
Related: How Long Must You Keep Medical Records? How Long Should You Keep Medical Records? »
2. Promote & manage your reputation online
Your online reputation is paramount to establishing a good foundation and attracting new patients. Medical Justice’s eMerit program helps to establish and maintain this reputation in several ways:
- Collecting reviews from patients within your practice
- Automatically posting reviews to top review sites, such as Google and Healthgrades
- Promoting your practice online and helping you appear in searches
3. Protect your practice from frivolous lawsuits, unwarranted demands for refunds, and other liabilities
Medical malpractice insurance is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to mitigating your practice’s risks. Some additional coverages many practices forget about include license defense coverage, cyber-liability, and employment practices liability insurance. These are typically priced for those on modest budgets. Don’t skimp.
The good news is that you don’t have to figure out the rest on your own—with the help of Medical Justice’s services, you can lay a strong foundation for a successful practice. Medical Justice membership provides comprehensive support for challenges such as:
- Preventing frivolous lawsuits
- Addressing unwarranted refund demands
- Managing sham peer reviews
- Safeguarding your online reputation
Our expert team assists with issues like defamatory reviews, medical board complaints, and notices of intent to sue. Here are just a handful of the benefits our members enjoy:
- Access to our proprietary templates and forms, such as patient dismissal letters, which can help to discourage frivolous litigation
- Our medico-legal hotline to speak directly with our medico-legal experts
- Counterclaim support up to $100k, based on the merits of the case
- Continuous scanning of multiple ratings sites & alerts of new postings to protect against internet defamation
In addition to our protection plans and online review monitoring, we offer consultations for concerns that fall outside of membership coverage with suggested next steps to help you regain control. This may include board complaints, National Practitioner Data Bank reports, and negotiation on your behalf with patients seeking refunds. If you require more hands-on assistance, or if your need falls outside the scope of membership, we can often be engaged for further support.
To learn how our experts can help you prevent legal pitfalls in your practice, schedule a consultation using the form below.
I might respectfully add some more details to the excellent summary from Medical Justice, when you are opening a new practice. Unfortunately, there are many details and landmines that have not been shared with you during your residency. But “ignorance is no excuse.” You must be aware of these:
1. Paying or receiving referrals for money or any other payment in kind is illegal and considered a felony. You and your benefactor may go to Federal prison if you are involved, even peripherally with such a monetary construct. This includes any in-kind favors by pharmacies, other physicians or drug companies trying to encourage you to use their products. Look up the Stark Laws. You need to know them.
2. Playing the “Code Dance.” The code dance is a system of trying to extend, manufacture or re-construct RV’s and billing codes to try to get more money for your services. Most codes are constructed to force you to give away services. There is no avoiding this format. It is built into the system. It is better to look at billing codes as a communication system designed to un-favor you. If you look at the TOTALITY of your professional service, over the years, you will still prosper. When you start to build beyond a certain point, you can invest in RE and avoid the risks of the “code dance.” You will still make a lot of money, but without any audit risks that will give you sleepless nights. This includes various blue-chip stocks and ETFs.
3. Hospital privileges are not a “right” but a privilege. When you start at a new hospital, you may find some employees do not understand or “choose” not to understand your requirements, either for your surgeries or bed-side accoutrements. You may regard this as a “personal affront.” You cannot repair these issues. It can take years for hospital employees to “catch up” with your needs. If you immediately start a ruckus and report them, you will be regarded as a “disruptive physician.” This can cause the hospital board to initiate a sham peer review to get rid of you. YOU CANNOT FIX THINGS THAT ARE WRONG WITH THE HOSPITAL. If you try, you will run into the Hospital Board. Keep your head down.
4. Angry employees. It is hard enough to find good employees. Remember, if you try to do anything untoward or illegal, they are in a position to turn you in. And they will. If an employee steals from you, you cannot usually obtain recompense because they or a member of their family are using drugs. Rather than trying to put them in jail, tell them you will report the earnings they stole from you to the IRS. THEY will pay you back!
5. Your family probably does not understand why you may not have as many patients and are making huge profits in the first year. And why you are so damn tired. Try to have patience with them and your kids. Don’t expect the first year to be perfect. Get exercise and try to eat properly. Keep a good sense of humor.
6. Try to see if you can reduce your college loans by practicing in a geographic area that does not have enough of your specialty. Some of these might still exist. They were there when I was starting. It’s worth trying to look into. There are programs for MD/DOs, various PA positions and even podiatry graduates. But you have to look them up online, qualify for them and apply. They will not usually contact you if you don’t fill out their forms properly. That is YOUR obligation.
7. Medical Justice did not exist when I started. They have an ocean of good advice to give you. They may just keep you out of Federal prison. They have experience and skills you do not have.
Respectfully, with wishes for good luck,
Michael M. Rosenblatt, DPM