Terminating the Patient-Physician Relationship

Our healthcare and business law firm works with providers who are running their own practices. Clients have asked us recently how they can terminate the patient-physician relationship with their patients without violating state law or their ethical obligations. This blog post discusses important considerations that providers should consider when discharging a patient from their practice. If you are trying to discharge patients from your practice or would like to discuss this blog post, you may contact our healthcare law firm at (404) 685-1662 (Atlanta) or (706) 722-7886 (Augusta), or by email, info@littlehealthlaw.com. You may also learn more about our law firm by visiting www.littlehealthlaw.com.

State Law and Ethics Rules Govern How a Provider Can Lawfully and Ethically Terminate the Patient-Provider Relationship.

States have laws governing how providers can terminate the patient-provider relationship. If states do not have such laws, then the Ethics Rules from the American Medical Association (AMA) are a good guidepost. The AMA Ethics Rules state that when terminating the patient-provider relationship, the provider must (1) notify the patient or patient’s decisionmaker long enough in advance to allow the patient to secure another provider; and (2) facilitate transfer of care when appropriate. If a provider immediately terminates care with a patient without adequate notice, the provider runs the risk of committing unprofessional conduct for patient abandonment. The Georgia Medical Board echoes this sentiment, stating physicians generally have the right to terminate the patient-physician relationship but should give the patient adequate written notice of the termination, preferably through certified mail, and adequate notice and a reasonable amount of time for the patient to find another healthcare provider. The Board then specifies that 30 days is generally considered “adequate notice.”

States like Georgia give providers discretion on how they can discharge patients from their practice. If a provider reasonably determines that a patient is being disruptive to a provider or a provider’s staff or that the patient poses a risk of harm to the provider or staff, the provider may have grounds to terminate the patient-provider relationship immediately, but the provider should document the reasons for such immediate termination so as to reduce the risk of patient abandonment.

If you are trying to discharge patients from your practice or would like to discuss this blog post, you may contact our healthcare law firm at (404) 685-1662 (Atlanta) or (706) 722-7886 (Augusta), or by email, info@littlehealthlaw.com. You may also learn more about our law firm by visiting www.littlehealthlaw.com.

 

 

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