Medical Documentation – Protect Your Clinic
Risk management through medical documentation was an important topic addressed and presented via a mock trial at the 2015 AATOD conference. As treatment providers, you are responsible for taking the appropriate measures to ensure that patient documentation is accurate and thorough. Consistent documentation not only ensures that important patient progress is recorded, but it is also key to protecting your clinic from legal retaliation should a patient experience an unfortunate event while enrolled in your Medication Assisted Treatment program.
Addiction Treatment Forum (ATForum) recently published an article outlining the specific protocol that should be followed for every patient and emphasizing the tasks that should be tailored to patients in specific circumstances. “The problem wasn’t necessarily that the counseling wasn’t done. The problem was that it wasn’t documented.”(1) Read the full article.
About ATForum
Reports on substance abuse and addiction therapies, research, news, and events of interest to both healthcare professionals and patients with a focus on methadone maintenance (MM) treatment for opioid addiction. AT Forum is made possible by an unrestricted educational grant from Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals, St. Louis, MO, a manufacturer of opiate and alcohol addiction products. (2)
1.) http://atforum.com/2015/08/reduce-opioid-treatment-program-legal-liability/
