Some medical/legal questions that I'm not so clear on...

[sscheinfe]

A little potpourri here. It's been a while since my medical legal class, and I was a little fuzzy on...

 

(1) What EXACTLY constitutes a physician-PA relationship? I mean, when I worked, I got scripts with my and SP name on them, I was on the payroll, etc...my name was in print all over...but let's say I wasn't writing scripts yet and we hadn't ordered them yet...what technically connects me to the physician? If I come with my own malpractice, and the doc says "OK, I like you, you are hired" and hands you a patient...what authorizes you to see that patient? Is it simply the doctor's word? If so, what prevents him/her from denying later on that you were ever his/her PA and claiming you illegally saw patients independently? Where is that magical registry that duly notes, for all to see, your PA-SP relationship?

 

(2) Is malpractice portable? I know plenty of Nurses who do side pay jobs, and I assume they are covered under their primary job's malpractice....is this the case with us?

 

(3) Can a PA be hired to provide BLS-only coverage to a construction site, say? Would that be covered under the PA's CPR card and/or good samaritan laws?

[rev ronin]

(1) Ask a lawyer.

 

(2) Ask a lawyer, but no, I wouldn't count on it.

 

(3) Ask a lawyer, but no, I don't believe so. If you're hired for pay to provide care at any level, good Samaritan laws do not apply to that employment.

[jmj11]

#1 In our state at least, it is clear . . . a filed supervisory agreement with the state.

#2 Virtually no malpractice covers additional job sites unless your contract with your malpractice insurer specifically mentions your other job.

#3 ditto above.

[EMEDPA]

in my state malpractice is site specific. one of the local free clinics gets staff their own policies to volunteer there to entice new volunteers.

[Contrarian]

1.) In this state (same state as JmJ11 & EMEDPA)... a "Practice Plan" must be filed AND APPROVED with the Medical Quality assurance commission (basically the BOM)... BEFORE a PA can start seeing these patients. The Approval typically takes 3-5 days.

 

2.) The "portability" of your mapractice policy is determined by who you have it through and who is paying it. If your employer pays for your malpractice as a "rider" on their practice policy... then its likely NOT Kosher to work other places and expect your primary employer's policy to cover you.

 

I have had my OWN policy through CM&F since about 2003. My policy's premiums and coverage limits are determined by the type/cass of medicine I am engaged in.

 

Personally, I function in "class A" which basically covers Outpatient Primary Care/Minimally invasive stuff. If I did more... I would need to upgrade to Class B which would be Outpatient/Inpatient procedure heavy stuff, or Class C which would be invasive EM/Surgery related stuff.

 

My policy covers me wherever I practice in this state... as long as I am licensed, and don't practice out of my class.

 

This allows me to work locums and several jobs and to simply pro-rate the premiums to all current/future employers.

 

3.) Ditto on this one.

Also as a mental exercise... hypothetically consider the potential ethical problem of say a Trauma Surgeon, MD/DO taking a moonlighting job as a CNA/EMT-B... and this person siting around night after night at a nursing home while a patient's health declines, doing nothing because they were only employed there as a CNA.

How legally, ethically, morally defensible would this be...??

 

Just a few Thoughts...

 

Contrarian