OPMC Defense

If an insurance company settles a case on your behalf, it must report all of the settlements to the Department of Health. Generally speaking, the Department of Health will not post settlements until there are more than two. If there is a claim of a wrongful death, and if you have the case settled on […]

The New York State Physician Profile is a website that the Department of Health has on every physician in the state. You have to update it every two years. It lists your education, it lists where you practice, and it also will list settlements in malpractice cases if you have either a very, very serious […]

The definition of a crime, by both the Department of Health and the Department of Education, is that you are found guilty or you plead guilty to a felony or a misdemeanor of any degree. The other issue here is can you get to plead guilty to a violation. That’s with a capital “V.” That […]

If you’re a physician and there’s a malpractice case against you, your insurance company may come to you and say they would like to settle the matter. Take a long look at that, because if they settle the case for any money whatsoever, whether it’s one penny or one million dollars, you are going to […]

If you’re a physician and you render medical care to your own family, you had better be careful. First of all, the state would like you not to render medical care to your own family. They would rather have somebody who’s independent do it, another doctor who is not encumbered by the family relationship. If […]

Electronic Medical Records are a great, great advance in medical record keeping. The problem that doctors always had is that they don’t keep very good records. Their handwriting is awful, and they have so many patients, they do not want to write down all of the required information. This informational blog post was brought to […]

If you go to an interview, and after the interview, OPMC or OPD decides to charge you with misconduct, you are in the fight of your life. What can happen is that you can lose your license out of this. The way this works is they select a panel of three people, professional people, to […]

Your medical record keeping is always an issue for the Department of Health or the Department of Education. The reason for it is that it’s unprofessional conduct if you do not keep a proper medical record. When I say a proper medical record, they want a complete history, they want a physical examination, they want […]

When you go to an interview with OPMC or OPD, they are going to give you a chance to tell your story. After that, they may decide that they want to prosecute you and take you to a hearing. You want to avoid that if you can. If you can’t, of course, you go to […]

A sexual relationship with a patient is always something that has the opportunity of having OPMC, Office of Professional Medical Conduct, or OPD, Office of Professional Discipline, coming to visit you. This is unprofessional conduct, by definition. If you do it and they find out about it — and often they do, because there are […]

If you have an allegation of domestic violence against you as a physician or a nurse or any other type of medical provider, that is probably going to end up with the Department of Health or the Department of Education. They’re going to investigate you. You want to avoid this at all possible, but sometimes […]

If you’re charged with misconduct after an interview, you are going to a hearing with a capital “H.” That is really like a criminal trial, where there’s an administrative law judge and a panel of three people who are going to make a decision as to what, if anything, should happen to you regarding your […]

If you go to an interview with OPMC or OPD, this is the place where you want the case to end. You have to be prepared to explain yourself as to what the issues are, why you did what you did, or why you didn’t do what someone else says you should have done. Also, […]

If your hospital brings a case against you, a claim that you are incompetent or have done something else that requires them to fire you, this will not be good for you. You will be reported to the Department of Health if you’re a physician, and the Department of Education, if you are another healthcare […]

Settlements of medical malpractice cases are reported by insurance companies to the Department of Health.  Of course, the larger the settlement the more attention the matter will bring.  However, while OPMC can investigate any settlement, it usually begins to look at a physician more carefully if there are several settlements in a relatively short period of time.  This […]