As a practicing medical professional, you should know that you are always under the watchful eye of the New York State Department of Health’s Office of Professional Medical Conduct (OPMC) or Office of Professional Discipline (OPD). This is why you may have your guard up if you ever make an error in administering care that results in a patient’s injury and other associated damages. Well then, please continue reading to learn whether your patient must have gotten injured by you to report a complaint and how one of the experienced New York City OPMC/OPD misconduct defense lawyers at Walker Medical Law can help you understand exactly what you are up against.
Does my patient need to get injured to have grounds to report me?
You may be confused between a medical misconduct report filed with the OPMC or OPD versus a medical malpractice complaint filed with the New York State civil court. The latter may require the plaintiff to establish their injuries and damages due to your negligent behaviors and actions. This is while the former may be used to warn about your ethical or professional lapses that can potentially hurt other patients in the future. All of this to say that your patient does not have to be left injured by your healthcare to report you. Rather, they may have grounds to do so based on any of the following reasons:
- They witnessed or experienced you conducting physical intimidation, verbal harassment, or sexual aggression.
- They witnessed or experienced you failing to provide adequate healthcare on the basis of discrimination.
- They witnessed or experienced you revealing confidential healthcare information to unauthorized individuals.
- They witnessed or experienced you failing to maintain acceptable patient records or billing for services fairly.
Who else is allowed or obligated to report me to the OPMC or OPD?
You must understand that your past or current patients are not the only ones allowed to step forward and report you for medical misconduct to the OPMC or OPD. These Offices may even consider complaints filed by your family members and close friends. This is if, say, they express genuine concerns over your substance abuse or addiction and believe it to be affecting your patient care and overall work. With that being said, other parties who are allowed or obligated to report you read as follows:
- A facility’s professional practices committee is obligated to report any complaints it receives of your misconduct.
- A health facility is obligated to report disciplinary actions it takes against you for misconduct instances.
- Licensed health professionals are obligated to report you for suspected instances of misconduct.
Understandably, this may all seem like a headache during this especially overwhelming time. Well, to alleviate some of the pent-up stress, please turn to the legal aid of one of the skilled New York City OPMC/OPD misconduct defense lawyers. Contact our office, Walker Medical Law, right now; someone will be more than happy to speak with you.
