For a variety of reasons, physicians are occasionally not covered by medical malpractice insurance. A physician licensed in Ohio is required to provide a patient with written notice of the physician’s lack of malpractice insurance coverage prior to providing nonemergency professional services to the patient.
Pursuant to R.C. 4731.143, the required notice must be in writing and provided alone on its own page.
The written notice must also provide space for the patient to acknowledge receipt of the notice. The physician must obtain the patient’s signature, acknowledging the patient’s receipt of the notice, prior to providing nonemergency professional services to the patient, and the physician must maintain the signed notice in the patient’s medical record. Merely telling the patient verbally of the lack of malpractice insurance is not sufficient.
The written notice is required to be as follows:
NOTICE:
Dr……………. (here state the full name of the license holder) is not covered by medical malpractice insurance.
The undersigned acknowledges the receipt of this notice.
___________________________
(Patient’s Signature)
___________________________
(Date)
Failure to comply with any of the requirements of R.C. 4731.143 can subject a physician to disciplinary action by the Medical Board.
If you have any questions about this post or the State Medical Board of Ohio, please feel free to contact one of the attorneys at the Collis Law Group, LLC at 614-486-3909, or email me at Beth@collislaw.com.
Ohio Medical Board Defense Counsel Blog 