I am not trying to scare you but only remind you about a few things that could jeopardize your business.
Let’s get right into it, here are my top 5:
1. Are you still legally licensed? A few days ago, I heard of a local therapist that was in trouble with the California Licensing Board (BBS) because they hadn’t kept records of her CEUs. Each state has a specific number of required hours for licensing renewal and it is the therapist’s responsibility to keep records of each class. The board asked this therapist to produce her documents and she couldn’t provide all the certificates for the number of CEUs she was claiming. I know that keeping track of these pesky certificates can be difficult but having some organization of these is needed. On the whole 47 licensing State boards confirm that they are doing random CEU audits. Now this therapist has a perjury charge pending as well as insufficient CEUs
2. What insurance do you have? The answer should be a general liability and malpractice insurance. If you own your building you will also need property insurance. All three of these insurances can keep you from losing your business from a lawsuit. General liability or sometimes called slip and fall insurance protects the business from claims made by a 3rd party. For example, a client comes into your office trips on a throw rug, falls, and then files a claim against your company. Without general liability, you might have to cover the entire cost of the claim from your business or personal assets. According to The Hartford insurance company, the average claim settlement is $20,000.
Malpractice insurance is a type of professional indemnity, this insurance is designed for healthcare professionals. It protects you from claims that you harmed a client by negligent or intentionally harmful treatment decisions. According to Legal Match, the most common concerns are:
Malpractice insurance is a type of professional indemnity, this insurance is designed for healthcare professionals. It protects you from claims that you harmed a client by negligent or intentionally harmful treatment decisions. According to Legal Match, the most common concerns are:
- Making inappropriate or excessive self-disclosure;
- Using techniques without proper training;
- Deliberately misdiagnosing patients;
- Having a sexual relationship with a current or former patient;
- Failing to take adequate notes;
- Failing to take a proper history; and/or
- Failing to consult with peers or to seek the advice of peers.
3. Inadequate notes or no note documentation. I know many therapists feel that this is the hardest part of our job. However, not doing them can put your legal hot water. Therapists must keep with the standard of care with treatment and notes are part of that. When I worked for an agency, they had a 48-hour policy on case notes. Some other large employers that I know of require documentation with 24 hours. I always think if I was in court and asked why did I wait so long to complete my note would I be justified? In this case, I would rather be safe than sorry; thus, no late notes for me.
4. Let’s turn to your computer, specifically email. Is your email HIPAA compliant? I sure hope so! Do you have a Business Associates Agreement (BAA) with your email provider? Better yet do you know where your copy of the BAA is? On your computer’s hard drive? Please keep a hard copy file of all your BAA agreements just in case your hard drive dies. Are you using a cloud service for storage or to have easy access across devices? Are you using a paid version of Google’s G-Suites or Microsoft One Drive and have you signed the BAA documentation with each respective company? There are of course other HIPAA compliant email servers out there like HushMail, Barracuda or Protected Trust. Ultimately it’s the use of the email services and a signed BAA that helps keeps you covered.
5. Does your computer have a virus protection program in place and able to scan files for you? Getting a computer virus can cause a great deal of extra work and potential downtime for your business. Also, keep strong passwords and change them occasionally.
5. Does your computer have a virus protection program in place and able to scan files for you? Getting a computer virus can cause a great deal of extra work and potential downtime for your business. Also, keep strong passwords and change them occasionally.