No one likes to be ignored. If you are talking to someone, you reasonably expect they will listen.
If the “listener” is not listening, their next step is to turn up the volume.
If a Board of Medicine writes to you seeking an explanation for care you rendered plus a copy of the full medical record, they expect you will send it to them. At the very least, they expect the full medical record, even if you choose not to tell your side of the story. If you fail to timely respond, the Board will turn up the volume.
So, one take home message is to timely respond to requests from the Board of Medicine. Often, with the assistance of an attorney who specializes in managing Board complaints.
But that’s not the main point of this blog.
To timely respond to a request from the Board, you must learn that it is trying to reach you. The Board must have your CURRENT contact information on file. You have an affirmative duty to notify the Board of the best ways to reach you – by mail, email, and likely phone.
If the Board has dated information that is no longer current, you will not receive what it sends. Its message will head to the wrong address. You will not know what it seeks.
It will reasonably assume you are intentionally ignoring them.
Then it might act.
If there’s a patient complaint, for example, and you fail to respond, the Board might ultimately deliver a default judgment of discipline against you. Such discipline would be reportable to the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB). In fact, some physicians learn of such default disciplinary actions from the NPDB, and the NPDB may actually have your current contact information.
Sadly, such discipline may be far more onerous than what you might have received had you timely responded.
So, make sure that every Board where you hold a license has the best current ways to reach you in every jurisdiction where you hold a medical license. Discipline in one jurisdiction can morph into discipline in many jurisdictions. And a minor slap on the wrist in one jurisdiction can turn into a license revocation in another—just because you failed to timely respond.
Really.
Is that fair? Probably not.
Is it legal?
Yes.
What if the Board had your current information but you could not respond because you were in an extreme situation, and unavailable? For example, on a ventilator in an ICU. Or serving your country in the military in a combat zone.
You likely still need a way to respond before the Board takes final action and loses its authority over the case. There is often a narrow window to appeal in court after a final Board action, but that window also has a finite timeline.
My recommendation is to plan for the worst. You likely already have life insurance and disability insurance to plan for uncertainty. To plan for the worst. So, have a plan in place to manage communications from the Board if you are unavailable, ill, or out of the country. Plan for the worst. If someone in your office reaches the Board before the dominos start falling, it likely will understand and pause the process.
Now for your assignment:
- Double check all of your contact information with every entity where you hold a license or privileges. And others. Medical Boards, DEA, NPI, NPDB, Hospitals, Medicare, and Medicaid. I’m sure I left out some. Put this information in an Excel spreadsheet. If you move, it will be easier to manage down the road. Make sure the contact information is current.
- Assign a point person, who in your absence, can open mail from Medical Boards, DEA, etc. Yes, even if you’re on vacation. Surely you can trust one person with that task.
OK, that’s my mundane message. Managing your contact information. Do not be a cautionary tale. Don’t let a minor Board problem turn into a major Board problem.
What do you think?
Excellent advice. This happens all the time, which would seem impossible in today’s connected world, but isn’t. Trust SOMEONE.
I know of a physician who had a broken pipe in her suite. She could not work in that suite for a period of time. While there was the flood, her office mail was dropped to the floor and eventually the construction crew tossed it out along with the other destroyed paper. A notice from the Board that was sent by regular mail was in that pile. Eventually, she lost her license.
My observation: Why do the Medical Boards send such important mail by regular mail? One would think that certified mail would be proper. This is just more abuse directed at physicians.
Richard B Willner
The Center for Peer Review Justice
I agree completely with Dr. Willner. We recognize that Medical Boards seem to have complete authority and no particular obligation or responsibility. There is no Constitutional right to practice medicine.
The permission to practice medicine requires an apex of personal responsibility and accomplishment, not to mention dedication.
When medical boards depend completely on the frailties of our mail system for their earth shattering decisions and requirements, we must recognize that this is not just arrogance.
It is sociopathy.
Michael M. Rosenblatt, DPM
Mail gets misdirected when sent to a professional building. In the case that I have worked on, the provider ( not the physician) was not listed on the directory or on any door. She was at the mercy of a clerk in another office in the professional building to locate her. Thankfully, the state board of Nursing is not as punitive as the state boards of medicine and we were able to work it out easily with the chief of investigations of the nursing board.
Sending important mail from a Board could easily be sent by certified mail where there is a receipt of service. There is no excuse. It’s time for the State Boards to show some mercy on Physicians and providers.
Richard B Willner
The Center for Peer Review Justice