Tag: medical board investigation

Collis Law Group, Disciplinary Action, Investigation, Medical Board, Medical practice in Ohio, State Medical Board of Ohio, Uncategorized

Attorney Beth Collis quoted in Medscape article on Medical Board investigations

Attorney Beth Collis, of Collis Law Group LLC, was quoted in a Medscape article titled “The Dangers of a Medical Board Investigation: How to Protect Yourself”. In the article Ms. Collis addresses the 9,000 complaints that the State Medical Board of Ohio receives each year. “Many are minor or frivolous, such as allegations that the doctor or his staff was rude to the patient or family, billing questions, being forced to wait too long for an appointment, etc. The Board generally doesn’t take action in these cases and may not even inform the doctor of them.”

Ms. Collis also addresses how it is necessary for physicians to respond to Board investigations or inquiries. Ms. Collis warns physicians against ignoring inquiries from the Board, or from talking to the Board without counsel. “No complaint is too minor. Too many physicians think they don’t need a lawyer and can just talk the Board investigators into dropping the complaint. Doctors may sincerely want to help but they don’t understand the rules and pitfalls. They are often too chatty and explain things that weren’t even asked.” Legal counsel is recommended for any physician in connection with any Medical Board investigation or disciplinary action.

Read the article, written by Mark Crane, by clicking on the following link: https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/899247_2

As always, if you have any questions about this blog or the State Medical Board of Ohio, please feel free to contact one of the attorneys at Collis Law Group LLC at (614) 486-3909 or email me at Beth@collislaw.com.

Medical practice in Ohio, Notice of Opportunity for Hearing, Respond to Board Letters, State Medical Board of Ohio

Ohio Physicians: Timely open and respond to all letters from the Medical Board

Keep your address up to date

As a physician licensed to practice medicine in Ohio, you are required (under R.C. 4731.281) to maintain your current accurate mailing address with the State Medical Board of Ohio. You may update your address online at: http://med.ohio.gov/UpdateAddress.aspx

The address on file with the Medical Board will be the official address that the Board will use to contact a physician if they become the subject of an investigation, or if the Board proposes to take a disciplinary action against a physician.

Certified Mail

If the Medical Board takes an action against a physician, they will be mailed a letter outlining the charges to their address of record with the Board. Under RC 119.07, the Notice of a Board Order shall be given by registered mail, return receipt requested, and shall include the charges or other reasons for the proposed action, the law or rule directly involved, and a statement informing that the party is entitled to a hearing if the party requests it within thirty days of the time of mailing the notice.

If you receive a certified mail from the Medical Board, it is imperative that you open it!  If the Medical Board has mailed a certified letter to a physician, it will include important information and often requires an action to be taken by the physician within a short period of time.

For example, if the Medical Board issues a Notice of Opportunity for Hearing to a physician, the physician is only provided with 30 days (from the date of mailing by the Board) to request a hearing. Failure to timely request a hearing may result in a board-ordered sanction, and the physician would be provided with no means to defend their case. The sanction takes the form of a Final Adjudication Order under RC 119.

Failure to cooperate in an Investigation

Failing to respond to a subpoena request or to respond to Interrogatory questions sent from the Medical Board may also result in a disciplinary action taken against the physician by the Medical Board. R.C. 4731.22(34) provides that failure to cooperate in an investigation conducted by the Board, including failure to answer a subpoena or order issued by the Board, or failure to answer truthfully a question presented by the Board in an investigative interview, an investigative office conference, at a deposition, or in written interrogatories, will result in disciplinary action.

Publication notification

If you fail to accept delivery of certain notifications, the Medical Board has the authority to publish the notification in your local newspaper. If any notice sent is returned for failure of delivery, the agency either shall make personal delivery of the notice by an employee or the agent shall publish the notice once a week for three consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county where the last known address of the party is located. When notice is given by publication, a proof of publication affidavit, with the first publication of the notice set forth in the affidavit, shall be mailed by ordinary mail to the party at the party’s last known address and the notice shall be deemed received as of the date of the last publication.

Refusal of delivery by personal service or mail is not failure to deliver and service is still deemed to be complete. Therefore, it is important to keep your address up to date in order to accept all certified mail that is sent from the Medical Board. Be sure to carefully review all letters from the Board as they often include short timelines in which a response may be required.

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.

Medical practice in Ohio, State Medical Board of Ohio, Uncategorized

Being Investigated by the Medical Board? When to hire an attorney

I am often asked by physicians when is the best time to hire an attorney if they are being investigated by the State Medical Board of Ohio. The short answer is, the sooner the better.

The Medical Board is a governmental body that is established to regulate the practice of medicine in Ohio. As a regulatory agency, the Medical Board is required to investigate all complaints that are received related to physicians.

The Medical Board will assign an investigator to collect initial information related to the complaint. The investigator may request to meet with the physician to ask questions about the complaint. The Medical Board has the authority to subpoena medical records, to send the physician Interrogatory questions (questions the physician must respond to under oath), and may order the physician to a Deposition at the Medical Board office.

Any and all information submitted to the Medical Board or to the Medical Board’s investigator may be used as evidence to sanction a physician. Occasionally, physicians will speak with investigators, respond to Interrogatory questions, and even attend a Deposition without legal counsel. Many physicians believe that if they have “nothing to hide” they see no reason to retain an attorney. This is often a mistake.

The value of hiring experience legal counsel BEFORE you provide any information to the Medical Board is to help guide the physician through the investigative process, to help the physician understand all questions that are asked, and to assist the physician to provide information only as to what is being asked (and not irrelevant information and/or emotional or argumentative commentary).

Even if the physician believes the investigation is meritless, they still have a duty to cooperate in the investigation. The Board is required to investigate all complaints and has the authority and ability to close meritless complaints. However, by failing to provide clear, accurate, and timely responses to the Medical Board, the physician can exacerbate and/or extend the investigation. By arguing with investigators or providing non-responsive or argumentative replies to the Medical Board, the physician runs the risk of the investigator continuing the investigation or including in their investigation information which could have a negative impact for the physician.

The Board has no time limit to complete an investigation and often investigations can drag out for years.

In addition, once the physician responds to questions from the Medical Board, it is nearly impossible to “change your story”. Therefore, prior to responding to a Medical Board investigation, the physician should know and understand the law as it relates to the questions they are being asked. If the physician is not in compliance with the law, they should have a plan in place as to HOW they will come into compliance. Therefore, the sooner the physician retains experienced legal counsel, the more assistance legal counsel can provide.

Generally speaking, if the physician chooses to meet with the Medical Board investigator, respond to Interrogatory questions, and/or attend a Deposition without legal counsel, there is far less that legal counsel can do to assist the physician if the Medical Board institutes a disciplinary action.

I have also been asked if retaining legal counsel makes the physician look “defensive”. In my experience, the Medical Board respects the assistance of experienced legal counsel and understands that the entire investigative process is smoother when the physician is represented and informed.

As always, if you have any questions about the State Medical Board of Ohio in general or this blog post, please contact me at Beth@collislaw.com, check our firm website at http://www.collislaw.com or call to speak with one of the attorneys at the Collis Law Group, LLC at 614-486-3909.