We have been notified by OPMC that an investigation of one of our clients is now completed and the case is now closed, with no further action. This was a very significant matter and the fact that OPMC has closed it without any findings of wrongdoing by our client is extremely gratifying as the matter was serious and the investigation has been going on for over two years.
The issue started about four years ago when our client was fired from a major hospital located in New York City. When the client came to us for the OPMC matter, it became very apparent that the firing was done simply to get rid of the client, and the reasons given for the firing were obvious shams. The hospital not only fired the doctor, but also reported the matter to the Department of Health, and that in turn started the OPMC inquiry. It should be understood that our client was, and is, a very experienced and nationally recognized expert in the field. It was clear to us that the underlying motivation for this entire event was that new leadership had come into the hospital and that a decision was made to terminate the client for reasons related to the client’s longevity and position at the hospital. Therefore, some type of justification had to be found to support this termination decision.
We attended the OPMC interview with the physician, and we arrived prepared. The issues at hand involved how care had been delivered to numerous patients. We obtained all of the medical records and studied them down to the last comma. We had reasonable, logical, and truthful reasons why each decision was made and we demonstrated that the methods followed by the doctor were in accordance with long-standing policy at the hospital. After the Interview, we obtained, and sent to OPMC, written statements by other physicians who were present at the time in question, and those statements completely supported the actions of our client.
Later, OPMC contacted us and raised some additional issues. We, again, searched for, found, and provided documents that supported our position.
After a very long period of time, OPMC wrote the closure letter that I referred to at the beginning of this article. The client, of course, feels that a massive load has been lifted as finally, this very lengthy nightmare has come to an end. But, it only came to this favorable conclusion through hard work, thorough investigation, and an excellent
presentation of the facts. In my view, OPMC does reasonable and fair-minded reviews and the physicians working for OPMC will listen to a coherent and well-prepared argument.
Accordingly, if you find yourself the target of an OPMC investigation, you must prepare yourself for the Interview. This is the time to convince OPMC that you have not acted unprofessionally and that the investigation should be closed.
