Risk Management

April 2021 Bulletin: Terminating Care for Financial Reasons

April 6, 2021
Dear OMIC Insureds:

Hindsight is 20/20. What did we learn from 2020? We know that some patients delayed care because of the fear of contracting COVID-19. We also know that the pandemic caused financial stress that impacted both medical practices and their patients. Now, patients with high-deductible medical plans are once again facing their deductible for 2021. High-deductible plans can mean that patients will delay paying their medical bills, or delay or avoid medical care all together.

We’re often asked about the risks of terminating care for financial reasons. OMIC recommends the following:

·         Ensure that acute conditions are stabilized, or that another ophthalmologist has agreed to take over care.

·         Send the patient the 30-day notice warning of termination if payment is not received.

·         Send the letter certified, and by regular mail as well, in case the patient is not home or refuses to sign for the certified letter.

Patients who delay medical care present a different set of risks. Our risk management recommendations for terminating the physician-patient relationship provide step-by-step instructions for you and your staff and sample letters to assist in the process.

If you have questions, contact us for confidential risk management advice at riskmanagement@omic.com. Or call us at 1-800-562-6642, enter 4 for Risk Management.

Sincerely,

Michelle Pineda, MBA, OMIC Risk Manager

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This correspondence is intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain information that is privileged, confidential or otherwise protected from disclosure. Dissemination, distribution or copying of this e-mail or the information herein by anyone other than the intended recipient, or an employee or agent responsible for delivering the message to the intended recipient, is prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in error, please call me and destroy the original message and all copies.
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