Resource Library
The Resource Library is a compendium of consent forms, risk management recommendations, sample documents, articles, and other risk management materials to promote ophthalmic patient safety and reduce liability. Contact riskmanagement@omic.com with questions.
Found
47
resources.
Mar 8, 2014
| Recommendation
Medical malpractice lawsuits for negligent treatment of amblyopia are infrequent, but the risk to the pediatric patient’s vision is severe. If not treated appropriately by age nine, the child can have permanent vision loss.
Mar 8, 2024
| Sample Letter or Form
This form helps explain what amblyopia is and how it is treated. Also included is a sample referral report to the pediatrician.
Jul 8, 2024
| Risk Management Bulletin
To better protect yourself from anesthesia liability exposure, review OMIC’s risk recommendations regarding each of these factors.
Dec 8, 2020
| Consent Form
Nov 2, 2022
| Risk Management Bulletin
An increasing number of ophthalmologists treating retinal conditions with intravitreal anti-VEGF agents are being asked by health systems and hospitals to utilize bevacizumab biosimilar drugs.
Jun 20, 2017
| Risk Management Bulletin
Minor-aged patients are often brought to the pediatrician for non-urgent acute medical care or health supervision visits by someone other than their custodial parent or guardian. These two forms will assist you with obtaining permission or consent from someone other than the custodial parent or legal guardian.
Sep 17, 2016
| Article
Failure to diagnose a condition in a timely manner may lead to patient harm and professional liability exposure. Efforts to reduce the likelihood of diagnostic delay is especially critical in pediatric care since such delays can lead to death or a lifetime of bilateral blindness.
Apr 15, 2016
| Article
In September 2014, the ophthalmologists who compose OMIC’s Claims Committee noticed an increase in OMIC malpractice cases alleging diagnostic error and asked risk management staff to explore the reasons behind this apparent trend. We looked at OMIC claims that were resolved over the seven-year period from 2008 to 2014 and presented this data at the OMIC Forum at the 2015 AAO annual meeting in Las Vegas. Many of our policyholders were not able to attend the Forum, so we are pleased to share this information from the “OMIC study” in the Digest.
Aug 9, 2024
| Recommendation
Disclosure of an adverse event or unanticipated outcome is important for patient safety, patient trust, patient right to autonomy to make decisions about treatment, continuity of care among providers, and to provide empathy.
Feb 6, 2023
| Recommendation
Inaccurate or incomplete documentation is a threat to patient safety and hampers the defense of a medical malpractice lawsuit. Conversely, careful documentation of the history, exam, and decision-making process may dissuade a lawsuit.
Oct 15, 2018
| Article
A number of plaintiffs who filed a claim against OMIC insureds after developing endophthalmitis inadvertently delayed their own diagnosis and treatment. Our experts reviewing such claims try to determine whether the defendant could have handled the situation better.
Aug 15, 2018
| Article
Infection is a risk of all surgeries. Endophthalmitis is a particularly worrisome type of infection because it can lead to severe vision loss, blindness, and loss of the eye.
Aug 12, 2023
| Article
OMIC has published two reports of endophthalmitis claims studies, one in 2006 and another in 2017. This issue of the Digest updates those studies with data from OMIC’s endophthalmitis claims closed between January 2018 and December 2022, thereby creating a complete analysis of endophthalmitis claims experience from the time of OMIC’s founding in 1987 through 2022.
Jan 7, 2025
| Consent Form
Aug 17, 2024
| Consent Form
Jan 20, 2025
| Recommendation
Patient noncompliance or nonadherence to treatment recommendations can result in patient safety concerns and potential liability risks for the physician and practice. This noncompliance toolkit discusses the issues and provides sample letters.
Jan 8, 2024
| Sample Letter or Form
When retiring or leaving a practice, use this form to document the patient's request to have someone outside the practice perform their postoperative follow-up care.
Jan 8, 2024
| Sample Letter or Form
When retiring or leaving a practice, use this form to to document the patient's understanding that another provider within the practice will provide their postoperative follow-up care.
Aug 17, 2024
| Sample Letter or Form
This form contains the information OMIC recommends you or a designated representative of your staff discuss with the parent/legal guardian of a minor patient.
Sep 6, 2024
| Consent Form
Aug 1, 2024
| Risk Management Bulletin
We would like to provide you with an update on the use of biosimilars to treat ROP.
Apr 1, 2022
| Article
This document summarizes the conditions of coverage that appear in the ROP application; see that application for a complete discussion of the requirements.
Apr 1, 2022
| Sample Letter or Form
Notify parents/caregivers of the need for ongoing ROP exams following discharge from the hospital.
Apr 1, 2022
| Recommendation
This ROP Safety Net Toolkit addresses hospital-based ROP care when treatment will be provided elsewhere. It contains sample protocols, which may need to be customized, and refers to ROP clinical care guidelines.
Apr 1, 2022
| Recommendation
This ROP Safety Net Toolkit addresses screening and treatment in the hospital. It contains sample protocols, which may need to be customized, and refers to ROP clinical care guidelines.
Mar 9, 2023
| Consent Form
Apr 4, 2016
| Consent Form
Apr 1, 2022
| Sample Letter or Form
Follow up on all missed, cancelled, or rescheduled ROP appointments, including no-shows, and send this letter if unable to reach the parents to schedule the exam.
Apr 1, 2022
| Recommendation
This ROP Safety Net Toolkit addresses ROP care provided on an outpatient basis. It contains sample protocols, which may need to be customized, and refers to ROP clinical care guidelines.
Apr 1, 2022
| Sample Letter or Form
Complete and sign this letter after the first outpatient ROP exam.
Jun 18, 2024
| Sample Protocol
The protocol listed in these materials is based on the Policy Statement "Screening Examination of Premature Infants for Retinopathy of Prematurity" and the Joint Technical Report "Telemedicine for Evaluation of ROP." The protocol incorporates both required conditions of coverage with OMIC as well as risk management recommendations which individual physicians may adapt to their own system and institutional policies and procedures.
Mar 8, 2022
| Consent Form
Aug 15, 2018
| Recommendation
This document will present the obstacles to safe ROP care, OMIC's ROP claims experience, and our risk management recommendations.
Jan 1, 2023
| Recommendation
OMIC first developed and distributed ROP Safety Net protocols in 2006. Our experience in helping ophthalmologists implement these patient safety measures has convinced us that liability for ROP care can only be decreased if ophthalmologists work closely with neonatologists, nurses in Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs), hospitals, and parents. We accordingly developed sample protocols—our ROP Safety Net Toolkit—for both office- and hospital-based care.
Jun 26, 2019
| Risk Management Bulletin
The American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Ophthalmology revised its Policy Statement (PS)1 on ROP screening late last year. We revised the clinical tables in our ROP Safety Net accordingly.
May 9, 2022
| Risk Management Bulletin
Changes to ROP Safety Net clinical tables and recommendations based on a 2021 release of The International Classification of Retinopathy of Prematurity, Third Edition1 (ICROP3).
Apr 1, 2022
| Sample Letter or Form
This spreadsheet can be used to record important birth and exam information about each ROP exam and treatment performed to ensure that all infants are tracked until they meet end-of-acute screening criteria.
Apr 1, 2022
| Sample Letter or Form
If the infant needs to be transferred to another hospital for non-ROP care, use this letter to notify parents of the importance of further ROP exams.
Apr 1, 2022
| Sample Letter or Form
Notify parents/caregivers that their baby is being transferred to another hospital for treatment of ROP.
Mar 10, 2022
| Recommendation
Concerns about IVAV both as primary or salvage therapy have been addressed in the literature and at eye society meetings. In addition, many questions are currently being studied and debated. Despite these uncertainties, when faced with aggressive or refractive ROP, ophthalmologists at times feel there is no other prudent choice but to treat ROP with IVAV. This document will address those concerns, and provide risk management recommendations specific to the use of anti-VEGF agents “off-label” for the treatment of ROP.
Aug 31, 2016
| Consent Form
Nov 11, 2012
| Sample Letter or Form
This sample form can be used to document salient information regarding the surgery.
Apr 16, 2017
| Case Study
To meet the standard of care, an ophthalmologist must examine a child who has experienced a drastic visual decrease following trauma. The crux of this case was whether the ophthalmologist was informed that a drastic visual decrease had occurred.
May 9, 2019
| Recommendation
Each day, countless patients call their ophthalmologist to report problems and seek advice. This telephone screening toolkit will provide guidance on how to ensure safe telephone care during the day and after office hours.
Dec 19, 2019
| Risk Management Bulletin
Jun 14, 2023
| Risk Management Bulletin
OMIC Risk Management clarifies its position on the use of biosimilar medications for ophthalmic care.
Aug 7, 2023
| Case Study
It would have been risky to try this case in front of a jury with a young child who experienced a complete loss of vision in one eye with phthisis bulbi. There was the potential for a large plaintiff verdict, so the case was settled prior to trial. If endophthalmitis is remotely suspected, it is best to err on the side of caution and either ask the patient to come into the office immediately, or instruct them to go to the closest emergency room.