Medical Professional Licensing Issues

Medical professionals save lives.  At Faris & Faris Law Office, we save livelihoods.

Medical Licensing Issues:
State and federal medical watchdog agencies, such as the Minnesota Board of Medical Practice, State Attorney General’s Office or the U.S. Attorney’s Office, are aggressive in their pursuit of complaints alleged against medical personnel. Complaints may concern billing issues, improper management of medical records, the administration of excessive pain medications, sexual advances with patients, drug or alcohol addiction, tax delinquencies, and unprofessional or unethical conduct. When a complaint is received, the allegations are presumed to be true. Investigations by any medical review agency are serious matters and adverse findings result in discipline including loss of medical license, civil penalties or even criminal charges.

Get Immediate Help In Responding To Any Accusations Or Charges:
If you are a licensed medical professional practicing in Minnesota, it’s important to know in advance how to respond if you are contacted in writing or in person by a state licensing board, state or federal regulatory agency, or any investigatory body or representative.

When to Contact an Attorney:

If you are a doctor, nurse, dentist, psychologist, chiropractor or other licensed medical professional or practitioner, your livelihood depends on your ability to maintain an active medical license.  Sometimes that means defending your professional standing before a local, state or federal licensing board or regulatory authority.  Frequently, the state Attorney General’s office, U.S. Attorney – and even the FBI – may be involved in an investigation.

Many medical professionals assume they will be treated by these agencies as “innocent until proven guilty.”  Unfortunately, that has not been the experience of many medical professionals, whose reputations and ability to earn a living has been dramatically affected by the action of a licensing board or other authority – even if the charges are eventually dropped or disproved.  Consequences of inattention to these matters can include loss or suspension of your license, discontinuation of insurance network membership, or fines and other financial penalties.  If, for example, you are found guilty of improperly billing charges to a medical insurer, you may be required to pay three-and-a-half times the incorrectly billed amount plus the insurer’s attorney’s fees.

That is why it is important that you contact a qualified and experienced attorney anytime you receive written notice or correspondence that you ,  your office, or a staff member in your office are under investigation.  Do not ignore this correspondence; it will not go away.

An attorney with experience defending against these kinds of charges can help you by:

Explaining the charges and potential consequences;

Responding quickly and appropriately;

Acting as intermediary between you and the medical board or other entity;

Determining whether insurance will cover the cost of your defense and/or any resulting fines

Representing you at any hearings or other meetings where action is being considered or taken.

Other Resources

For more information on medical professional licensing issues, click on the following links:

Minnesota Health Licensing Boards                                                                                                                         On the right side of the main page, click on HLB Home Pages for a drop-down menu of medical licensing boards in Minnesota.  (You may need to disable your pop-up blocker to access these pages.)

Minnesota Medical Association (http://www.state.mn.us/portal/mn/jsp/content.do?subchannel=-536882617&programid=536901916&sc3=null&sc2=null&id=-536882533&agency=BMP

Minnesota Community Measurement  (ttp://www.mnhealthcare.org/~main.cfm)  A new coalition that ranks health care providers based on quality of care.

Minnesota Health Information (www.minnesotahealthinfo.org)  A state-sponsored clearinghouse for information about the cost and quality of healthcare in Minnesota.

Stratis Health (www.stratishealth.org)  Stratis Health is a nonprofit organization funded by government and private grants to monitor “quality” of healthcare delivered in Minnesota.  For example, it is under contract to the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to, among other things, examine quality of health care services, beneficiary appeals, appropriate care, documentation and billing.