Upcoming WPS Events
June 29: Avoiding These 20 Surefire Ways That Will Increase Your Risk of a Malpractice Lawsuit or Board Complaint
Virtual Event
Register HERE.
July 27: Discussion on Informed Consent
Virtual Event
Register HERE.
Other Events of Interest
The WPS Awards Dinner was held on May 12, 2022, at Maggiano's Little Italy in Chevy Chase.
Do you want to reform prior authorization in DC?
Councilmember Mary Cheh has introduced B24-6555, Prior Authorization Reform Amendment Act. The bill was co-introduced by Councilmembers Allen, Bonds, Lewis George, and Gray. The bill is supported by MSDC and modeled after the American Medical Association's prior auth guidance. Learn more at our prior auth webpage, www.msdc.org/priorauth.
We have been fighting this issue for ten years, and this may be our best chance to pass these reforms. Below are four ways you can help fix DC prior auth today.
- Share your prior authorization (horror) story
- Contact the Council (and let MSDC know)
- Spread the word
- Add your name to our special prior auth update list
Click here to read more
April Fact vs. Fiction Resource
You’ve been treating a 10-year-old patient for a number of months. He has always been brought in by his father, who has told you he is divorced from the mother, and that she is no longer involved in the patient’s life. Out of the blue you get a call from the patient’s mother who just found out that you are treating her son, and is upset about the medication you are prescribing. She demands a copy of the child’s record. When you explain to her that the father had given consent for the medications, she tells you she and the father have joint decision-making authority for all medical care. She further tells you she wants to be involved in her son’s care, but the father is preventing this. She offers to send you a copy of the custody order. You contact the father who assures you that he is the one with sole physical custody, and only he can consent to release of the record; he also tells you that nothing in the custody order changes that and there’s no need for you to review the order.
What do you think - fact or fiction?
ANSWER: Fiction!
You need to see the custody order as it will likely spell out which parent(s) must consent to treatment, and who can access the patient’s record. Typically, unless parental rights have been terminated, both parents can access treatment information, even a parent without custody. If parents are in disagreement over consent to treatment and/or release of treatment information, and these issues are not addressed in the order, the parents should seek resolution from their attorneys.
Psychiatrists treating minors may want to consider the following:
- When a new appointment is made for a new patient who is a minor, ask if the parents are divorced. If so, advise that a copy of the custody order will need to be brought to the first appointment. Without the order, the psychiatrist may not be able to see the patient because there is no proof that the parent bringing the minor has the legal authority to consent to treatment.
- Manage the expectations of all parties. Explain your process for keeping parents informed about their child’s treatment.
