Reopening Medical Practices after COVID-19: What to Consider
Recent studies show that one in three Americans delayed medical care as they coped with the financial losses and stress caused by COVID-19. As stay-at-home restrictions loosen nationwide and the economy slowly begins to reawaken, health care providers are contemplating the reopening of their practices. To assist MIEC members as they prepare to provide care to their waiting patients, MIEC offers the following recommendations, based in part upon guidelines from federal, state, county, and medical specialty societies. See MIEC’s COVID-19 Resource Center for additional information. Before Reopening: There are several considerations that providers should explore to be prepared and ultimately...
Q: Can I be sued if a patient contracts COVID-19 after coming in for an office visit? A: Yes, although plaintiffs may have a difficult time substantiating the origin of the infection given that the typical patient will have multiple opportunities for potential exposures. Medical practices should implement reasonable protocols to mitigate risk of infection to both patients and employees, such as those required by state and local public health officials and infection control guidelines put forth by the CDC and OSHA. Q.) Should I require my patients to sign a waiver absolving me of liability related to COVID-19? A.)...
CRICO Corner – Pilot Project: Orthopedics and Neurosurgery
The MIEC/CRICO Strategies partnership began with a pilot project in which MIEC submitted claims data for orthopedic surgeons and neurosurgeons, report dates from 2006 to 2011, to CRICO Strategies for coding and analysis. One hundred sixteen (116) orthopedic and 42 neurosurgical medical incidents were deep coded and benchmarked against 152 orthopedic and 38 neurosurgical comparable CRICO peer group cases. Orthopedic claims review CRICO Strategies’ analysts found that MIEC’s rate of orthopedic claims has remained steady and comparable to peers since 2006. MIEC faces a higher percentage of surgical treatment allegations versus peers (78% vs. 61% respectively). Significantly more of MIEC’s...
The Use of Advanced Practice Providers in a Medical Practice: Update 2020
Physicians work with advanced practice providers (APPs) in a variety of medical settings. Advanced practice providers include physician assistants (PAs), and four classifications of advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs): nurse practitioners (NPs), certified nurse-midwives (CNMs), clinical nurse specialists (CNSs), and certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs). As the healthcare industry is experiencing an ever-increasing aging patient population, fewer physicians, is transitioning to value-based reimbursement, APPs are becoming vital to the success of team-based care. In this article we explore the qualifications of APPs, the benefits of employing APPs, as well as the impact they have on the role of physicians. Advanced...
Practicing during a pandemic – Coronavirus/COVID-19
Since first emerging as a novel virus in December 2019, the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus outbreak has quickly enveloped the world and, as of March 11, 2020, it was declared by the World Health Organization to be a true pandemic. Currently, there are over 118,000 cases in 114 countries, with 4,291 fatalities. In the U.S., there are 1,215 cases in 43 states, with 36 associated fatalities- and those numbers are growing rapidly. A few of the issues that challenge the response to the coronavirus outbreak are the variability of symptoms and disease severity of COVID-19 in individuals, a shortage of viral test...