Attend a workshop, earn 6 CE credits, and take 15% off your Trust-sponsored Professional Liability Policy Premium (for 2 consecutive years at policy renewal).
Experts agree that regardless of what happens with health care reform legislation at the state and national level, the industrialization of the health care system is going to continue. New practice models will require psychologists to confront an increasingly complex legal and liability environment in which the development of an effective risk management strategy will be essential for career and economic survival.
These are but a few of the developments that have increased the liability and disciplinary exposure that psychologists now face. At the same time, many sources report an increase in the number of complaints to licensing boards and professional ethics committees, where even a minor disciplinary sanction can seriously damage or even destroy a career. It is not uncommon for managed care to reject practitioners who have been sanctioned by any disciplinary body or have lost or agreed to non-nuisance settlements in a malpractice case.
Bruce E. Bennett, Ph.D., Eric A.
Harris, Ed.D., J.D., and Jeffrey N.
Younggren, Ph.D., ABPP draw upon their extensive experience in law and clinical practice as well as consultations to psychologists in all aspects of professional practice to develop these nationally acclaimed risk management workshops, specifically designed for psychologists. In addition to reducing the risk that a successful malpractice action will be brought, the workshops help practitioners to cope with potential complaints to licensing boards and ethics committees, and to respond to the increasing accountability requirements mandated by third party reimbursement sources.
The Trust currently provides risk management workshops in three sequences, each with core learning objectives as well as more specific issues and objectives related to the particular sequence. The workshops are most often produced in conjunction with state psychological associations, state licensing boards, hospitals, and other related organizations. The Trust also offers a pre-convention workshop at the Annual Meeting of the American Psychological Association.
Trust Risk Management Workshops are designed to help you:
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Recognize the major elements of disciplinary complaints and
malpractice suits;
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Identify situations that present the greatest risk to
practitioners, both now and in the future;
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Implement a system of specific procedural strategies that will
reduce the risk of malpractice actions and
disciplinary complaints;
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Recognize essential information about laws governing
therapeutic confidentiality and its exceptions;
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Implement an effective system of providing "informed
consent" to clients, including a sample
psychologist/patient contract;
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Determine how and when to consult with others to reduce the
risk of malpractice.
Workshop Schedule
Check this schedule to find a workshop location near you. Workshops are added to this schedule as they are confirmed, so check back often.
Workshop Sequences and Learning Objectives:
Sequence I
Legal and Ethical Risks and Risk Management in Professional
Psychological Practice: General Risk Management Strategies
- Learn what is new in the world of ethics
- Learn an approach to identifying and resolving ethical dilemmas that arise in professional practice
- Learn to identify practice situations that present the greatest risk to clinical practitioners, both now and in the future
- Learn essential information about disciplinary complaints and malpractice actions
- Review important HIPAA Privacy Rule issues and be introduced to the HIPAA Security Rule.
- Provide essential information about laws governing therapeutic confidentiality and exceptions
- Learn the distinction between privilege and confidentiality
- Learn how and when to consult with others to reduce the risk of disciplinary complaints and demonstrate compliance with the appropriate standards of care
- Learn what information should and should not be included in the patient's records
Sequence II
Legal and Ethical Risks and Risk Management in Professional Psychological Practice: Risk Management Strategies in High Risk Areas
- Learn basic strategies for identifying high risk situations and managing professional practice risks
- Learn how to manage interactions with lawyers and the legal system, including responding to subpoenas and other information requests, providing testimony at depositions and in court, and using strategies for interacting with attorneys
- Learn about managing potential conflicts in conjoint treatment with couples and families, with particular emphasis on the special risks associated with divorce
- Learn essential risk management strategies for identifying and managing outpatient suicide risk
- Learn ethical and legal standards governing these areas of practice
Sequence III
Ethical Decision Making and Risk Management in Clinical Practice (Interactive) gives the workshop participant:
- Familiarity with the fundamentals of ethical philosophy that are the foundation of all health care ethics codes
- Understanding of how these fundamentals drive the development of ethics codes and professional standards
- Recognition of where these fundamentals are specifically expressed in the law and in the 2002 APA Ethics Code
- Knowledge of the primary provisions of the 2002 APA Ethics Code
- Awareness of how the law impacts ethics codes and the relationship of ethics to law
- Expertise in how to use the ethical fundamentals in decision-making
- Interaction with other colleagues on specific ethical dilemmas, arriving at ethically based decisions on how to deal with difficult cases
Workshops with Your Organization
For more information regarding a Trust workshop with your organization, contact Karen Greene at 800.477.1200 or email karen.greene@apait.org.
