Medical Malpractice Insurance News

As the lead-in to the MSSNY 2022 House of Delegates, MLMIC and MSSNY are proud to present CME Day on Friday, May 20, via Zoom webinar. The series of continuing medical education presentations will commence online at 1 p.m. with three MLMIC presentations.

“High quality” documentation – including physician notes that are timely, precise and complete – can promote patient safety and may limit liability exposure.

The 21st Century Cures Act was signed into law back in 2016, and there are now certain milestones approaching that dentists must be ready to meet. By and large, the Cures Act has a greater impact on medical practices, but there are certain aspects of the law that matter for dental practices, as well.

Considering increased patient access to their own health information, the following strategies can help physicians promote patient understanding of and engagement with their EHR.

The growing emphasis on the EHR places a greater documentation burden on physicians, contributing to stress and burnout. MLMIC examines strategies to improve EHR workflow.

One of the most challenging times to be a dental practice owner is right after disaster strikes. Whether the emergency is related to weather, theft, cybersecurity breaches or something else, the owner must lead the office out of the crisis while mitigating the damage as much as possible. Recovering from a disaster at your dental office is possible, especially if the owner and other office leaders are familiar with emergency response protocol ahead of time. Here are eight important steps to take after disaster strikes your dental office.

It is challenging to handle dental record protocol in the event that paper or electronic records have been damaged or destroyed by floods, other types of storms or by a ransomware attack. When dental records have been damaged or lost by accident, natural disaster or criminal computer compromise, prompt and appropriate action must be taken to mitigate the damage and/or loss. Immediate remedial measures must be undertaken for the benefit of patients as well as the dentist and the practice, as these losses may involve records from many years of treatment.

Patient access to electronic medical records allows individuals greater insight into their own health documents—but also brings new complexity to record management.

Recent analysis indicates physicians are experiencing EHR alert fatigue, which can harm patient care. Health systems can adopt strategies to ensure patient safety, while optimizing use of the technology.

MLMIC encourages policyholders to review these important Risk Management Checklists on technology, including guidance on EHR copy/paste, computers in exam rooms, patient portals, protected health information, health IT and online reviews.