Legal Basics
This section contains articles and other resources relating to basic legal principles. Look here for articles explaining legal concepts, work with attorneys, discussions of the legal duties of health professionals, etc. There may be overlap with other sections, so if you do not find the information you are looking for please browse the other sections or use the search box.
The Standard of Care and Why Psychologis...
There were some discussions about my article on the standard of care and to respond to some
questions I posted this followup explanation that provides my take on why psychologists so frequently turn on each other:
What is the Standard of Care?...
What is the “Standard of Care,” and why should you want to know about it?
by Adam Alban, Ph.D., J.D.
What is “the standard of care?” Do you know? Odds are, even if you’ve never heard the term, you’ve found yourself wondering about it. If you’ve ever asked yourself, “what...
Does incorporating your practice shield ...
This question is one of the more frequently asked questions on professional email lists. The answer is, “it depends.” That is not as clear as many would prefer, but it is the right answer.
Have you received a letter from a licens...
If you receive a letter from a licensing body informing you that a complaint has been made against you, suppress the urge to panic.
Reporting Suspected Abuse: those reports...
July 22, 2008
Clinical Practice, Forensic Practice, Legal Basics, Miscellaneous, Practice Management
Clinical Practice, Forensic Practice, Legal Basics, Miscellaneous, Practice Management
This is a reminder: reports that clinicians make of suspected abuse are highly confidential. Under California law, reports of suspected child abuse and information contained in those reports may only be disclosed to persons or agencies who coordinate the investigation of these reports.
Should HIPAA matter to clinicians who ar...
If you aren’t a “covered entity” (the term HIPAA uses to identify healthcare providers under its authority) do you need to care what HIPAA says? In these situations is HIPAA irrelevant? The answer is both “yes” and “no.”
So You’ve Been Asked to Write a Declar...
The question of what to do when asked to author or sign a declaration on behalf of a patient is a stressful dilemma for most practitioners. This usually occurs when a patient is in the midst of litigation and the patient or the patient’s attorney believes that a statement from the practitioner would...
Psychotherapist-Patient Privilege for Pr...
On February 20th, 2008, the Court of Appeal of the state of California, Second Appellate District, published an opinion in the nature of the psychotherapist-patient privilege for convicted sex offenders undergoing voluntary psychotherapy.
Does Premature Termination Constitute Ab...
Most clinicians have encountered multiple situations where a patient attends a limited number of sessions and decides to end the treatment relationship, either by no-showing for successive appointments or by declaring that they wish to end the treatment relationship. This can present some difficulty...
What happens when confidential informati...
This is a particularly troublesome dilemma and one that most clinicians dread. We take great care to avoid such a situation, and in the event that a fax or letter gets to the wrong person most clinicians are unsure about whether the unintended recipient has any legal responsibilities to avoid further...
