Western States - Law Ethics and Risk Management

Western States - Law Ethics and Risk Management (6 hrs)

This new 6-hour course is in Video CD (CD-ROM) format, and requires a computer to view it. 

Course Description:
This is a 6-hour course designed to meet state licensure requirements for psychologists, licensed clinical social workers marriage & family counselors and licensed counselors.  The material is also relevant for psych nurses & certified alcohol and drug abuse counselors.  The intial 3-hours of the program begin with a review of the general issue of threats that come to the attention of clinicians, including threats by patients/clients against others, threats reported to clinicians about patients/clients by others, patient/client reports of threats by others, etc.  We continue with issues concerning the interface between the work of clinicians and the legal system, including subpoenas, forms of testimony and locations of testimony.

The remaining 3-hours of the program turn to selected record-keeping issues, including “professional wills,” record retention, statutes of limitation for civil suits and board actions, access to records  and post-payment audits by third-party payors. Finally, the presentation addresses liability issues for supervisors of clinicians and concludes with discussion of a major U.S. Supreme Court case concerning confidentiality and privilege.

The 6-hour presentation will include discussions of legal issues in the context of both federal and state (including Arizona, California, Oregon and Washington) statutes and regulations.

Objectives: Completion of the 6-hour course will enhance your ability to:

• Describe how an “apology statute” can be helpful in reducing threats of malpractice and board complaints
• Differentiate between fact/percipient, expert and treating expert witnesses
• List three areas of law that bear on liability for supervisors
• State the importance of Jaffe v. Redmond