Telehealth, patient portals, electronic prescribing, and mobile communication allow clinicians to remain connected with patients who are traveling or temporarily living in another state. However, providing patient-specific advice across state lines may create licensure, legal, privacy, prescribing, and patient safety obligations.

Before delivering care, clinicians should verify where the patient is located, determine whether they are legally authorized to practice in that state, and ensure they can meet the applicable standard of care through the chosen communication method.

Anonymous patient complaints are a common – and often challenging – reality in healthcare settings. Patients or others may choose anonymity due to fear of retaliation, privacy concerns, or discomfort raising issues directly. These complaints can range from minor service frustrations to serious allegations involving clinical care, billing, or professional conduct.

Obtaining informed consent is a fundamental legal and ethical requirement in medical practice. Many specialties have procedures that are regarded as minor and routine. Despite their low-risk nature, failure to properly obtain and document consent can expose physicians to allegations of negligence, battery, or professional misconduct. Understanding when verbal consent is sufficient and when written consent is advisable is an important aspect of risk management.

Clear communication is a clinical safety issue. For deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) patients, misunderstandings can lead to inaccurate histories, consent problems, poor adherence, and avoidable dissatisfaction.

Insurance investigations arising from patient complaints are increasingly common and may be your first indication that the patient had a concern about the care you provided or about your billing practices. These inquiries may originate from commercial insurers, Medicare Advantage plans, Medicaid managed care organizations, or government contractors acting on behalf of Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

As we start the new year, it is a great time to review regulatory updates and implement necessary changes to reduce your risk. This article summarizes billing and coding changes as well as HIPAA updates.

Scope-of-practice violations are among the most common – and costly – regulatory risks for doctors and medical practices. These occur when:

• A provider performs tasks they are not legally permitted or trained to do.
• Tasks are delegated to staff whose licensure does not authorize those activities.

In today’s rapidly evolving healthcare landscape, many physicians are seeking ways to grow their practices without compromising the quality of care. Scaling a medical practice involves more than simply seeing more patients - it requires strategic expansion of operations, staffing, technology, and patient engagement systems. When done correctly, it can increase profitability, improve efficiency, and enhance patient satisfaction. Below are steps you can take to scale your practice.

Nearly everyone texts to communicate. It’s quick, easy, and convenient. However, texting with patients carries professional, legal, and ethical risks, including:

1. Privacy and HIPAA compliance. Standard texting is not secure. Messages can be intercepted, viewed on shared devices, or accidentally sent to the wrong number. Therefore, any patient’s personal health information sent via text risks a HIPAA violation and possible fines.

While most healthcare providers are compassionate and want to provide optimal care to their patients, implicit biases exist. Healthcare providers may not be aware of implicit biases, which may be subtle and unintentional, that can influence clinical interactions, lead to a lack of trust between the patient and the healthcare provider, and result in healthcare disparities.

Measures to Strengthen Cybersecurity in Healthcare under HIPAA

If you missed Part 1 of this article, read it here!

Occasionally, there is good news about compliance and risk. Good news came to every licensed healthcare practitioner in the nation on January 5, 2021, when the HITECH Act was amended with the new HIPAA Safe Harbor Law (HR 7898). This change created safe harbors under the law, but only if acted upon by the healthcare professional to protect themselves and their practice.