Risk Management on the PRMS Blog

As you may be packing your suitcase for an upcoming summer vacation, there are a few things to consider before taking time away from your practice. 1) Make certain your staff has accurate telephone numbers and other contact information.  Discuss with them situations in which you absolutely want to be contacted; which may include problems with specific patients.  Remember, your ...

It’s that time of year again – the time when we take stock and reflect upon where we have been and where we are headed. Physically, you may have travelled far less in the last 21 months than ever before, but you have, nonetheless, been on quite a journey! Many of you have likely made changes to the way you practice. You may have decided to give up the expense and hassle of wor ...

As part of PRMS’ ongoing commitment to serve the behavioral healthcare community, we are proud to support the Society of Uniformed Services Psychiatrists in honor of Veteran’s Day this November. Learn more about the organization, its membership, and its mission below, plus access resources compiled by PRMS’ risk managers to aid in the treatment of military patients. This Ve ...

In our efforts to support mental health and all those served by and working in the field of psychiatry, we are pleased to feature Donna Vanderpool, MBA, JD, PRMS Director of Risk Management, as one of our bloggers this month. Donna shares strategies that doctors can implement to provide good clinical care in honor of World Patient Day this September. World Patient Safety Day 2 ...

It’s almost the start of a new year, and we can likely all agree that we are glad to say ‘goodbye’ to 2020 – a year that has, among so much else, upended healthcare, economies, and mental health.  Not only has the pandemic changed the way you practice psychiatry, but it also created new risks.  So as we begin a new year, our PRMS Risk Managers (or “Mayhem Managers” as they’ve b ...

World Patient Safety Day, established by the World Health Organization (WHO) in an effort to recognize patient safety as a global health priority, takes place annually on September 17, and PRMS Director of Risk Management, Donna Vanderpool, MBA, JD, recently shared her thoughts on the subject to members of the Florida Psychiatric Society. To further the efforts of mental health ...

In these uncertain times, the issues around telepsychiatry are more confusing than ever. To provide some answers to these uncertainties, we created a Telepsychiatry On-Demand Tutorial and are sharing associated resources, which you can access via this link (access the webinar under “Presentation”). While there continue to be many unknowns, this on-demand tutorial covers changes ...

Contemplating a return to the office? As we begin to reemerge after enforced state-wide lockdowns and closures as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important for psychiatrists to be prepared as practices open back up and federal and state regulatory exceptions and waivers go away. And while we do not know what exactly will happen next, our Risk Managers have created a he ...

In the July 14th issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, there was a review article titled “State of Telehealth.” In it, Drs. Dorsey and Topol describe the following three current telemedicine trends: “The first is the transformation of the application of telehealth from increasing access to health care to providing convenience and eventually reducing cost. The second is ...

The Office of Civil Rights (OCR) has announced its latest and largest HIPAA settlement to date.  Advocate Health Care will pay a settlement amount of $5.55 million and adopt a corrective action plan to bring a lengthy OCR investigation to an end.  In 2013, the Illinois-based health system first notified OCR of the theft of four unencrypted desktop computers, collectively housin ...