Risk Management Consultation Service on the PRMS Blog

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. While it is great to recognize and educate everyone on the issue of mental health, I want to take a moment to recognize and thank the psychiatrists and other mental health professionals for all they do under what can be very tough circumstances. My comments are focused on psychiatrists because my team of risk managers has the most interac ...

If you’ve paid attention to the news lately, you’ve more than likely seen headlines about Johnson & Johnson being involved in litigation related to the marketing of Risperdal.  Recently, our clients have begun to receive more requests for medical records in connection with Risperdal litigation. In the event that you receive any such request, we would like to remind you to ...

There has been a flurry of news affecting psychiatrists recently, including, but not limited to: – President Obama’s list “Gun Violence Reduction Executive Actions” which includes, among 21 others, these actions: – “Clarify that the Affordable Care Act does not prohibit doctors from asking their patients about guns in their homes.” – “Release a letter to health care provider ...

I returned to the office yesterday from the 2012 Annual Meeting. While this meeting was unique in that we weren’t on the exhibit floor, we still had the opportunity to meet with many of our customers. I had the following thoughts, observations, and reactions (in no particular order). Thanks to everyone who made their way to our hospitality suite in the Ritz Carlton Hotel. We h ...

How’s your new exercise program going? Have you lost five pounds yet? Mine’s going nowhere and I’ve gained weight. More importantly, have you stuck to your resolution to improve your risk management skills? We make it easy for you.  We have short, focused papers on the issues that bedevil psychiatrists in their daily practices: – Do I have to release this patient’s record to ...

It seems that for psychiatrists, the last two weeks of December are times of either feast or famine.  Some psychiatrists say it’s very busy in their offices. They attribute this to rising stress and waning sunlight; patients wreaking havoc on the appointment book for travel, shopping, entertaining, and having kids at home; student-patients home from college checking in; last mi ...