Risk Management

OMIC and AAO Urge Patient Education “Check-up”

The American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) and the Ophthalmic Mutual Insurance Company (OMIC) urge all ophthalmologists and practice administrators to conduct an annual review of their patient education materials and informed consent documents during the first week of December.

Patient consent documents are often a central issue in claims of alleged ophthalmic malpractice. Replacing outdated forms with current ones is a simple, yet effective, risk management strategy that could help you prevent or minimize the impact of a malpractice lawsuit or claim. By monitoring recent litigation strategies as well as changes in ophthalmic medicine, we are able to modify forms and documents when necessary to ensure they provide the most comprehensive (and defensible) patient education materials possible.

How do you know if your materials are current?

1. Check the back of your pre-printed Academy patient education materials for the most current version. (Use the Academy’s patient education checklist  to compare dates)

2. Visit www.aao.org/patientedproducts to review a full line of peer-reviewed patient education materials.

3. Download the most current trial-tested OMIC informed consent documents here.

It’s that easy!