Physicians may face a medical board investigation — as medical boards are required to evaluate all complaints — and it's best to go in prepared, according to a Medscape article.
There were 4,479 physicians disciplined in 2012, representing 70 medical and osteopathic boards, according to a Federation of State Medical Boards report cited by Medscape. Here are five tips for surviving medical board examinations:
1. Know what happens in the medical board investigations. Frivolous complaints often don't warrant much of the board's time. Some states can dismiss complaints after an initial review; in other cases, a letter could be sent to the physician asking for a medical record review. In that case, the investigation is serious.
2. Medical board investigators may request a meeting with the physician, who may want to bring an attorney. Notes taken at that meeting could be used against the physician later.
3. Legal counsel can identify areas the board is focused on and work with physicians to provide written responses later. When the complaint is served, most physicians have 20 to 45 days to respond.
4. Respond to the complaint within the allotted time and take it seriously; not responding is grounds for discipline. Transparency and promptness is important to the medical boards.
5. Documentation can make a huge difference — and not having documentation because the physician was too busy isn't good enough for the medical boards. Copying and pasting information from electronic medical records may not suffice; the physicians must address what happened to the patient, not just check boxes.