As a psychiatrist working in the area around Iowa City and Cedar Rapids (often referred to as East Central Iowa), you know you face a number of challenges on a daily basis, just by virtue of your profession. Fortunately, you have the education, training, and experience to provide the kind of care that your patients need. But what you may not have experience with is how best to defend yourself if someone has accused you of professional misconduct, and the Iowa Board of Medicine is pursuing the matter.
Once the Iowa Board of Medicine takes on a misconduct complaint filed against you, your medical license is potentially in jeopardy. You need to take the matter seriously, and the best way to do that is to secure the help of an experienced attorney who regularly defends psychiatrists and other medical professionals in similar situations. The LLF National Law Firm’s Professional License Defense Team is made up of attorneys who do this on a daily basis. To learn more about how we can help you with your professional misconduct case, call us at 888.535.3686 or submit our online contact form. We will schedule a confidential consultation so that you can tell us about the allegations you are facing, and we can explain how we can help defend you and your Iowa medical license.
Psychiatrists in East Central Iowa
Psychiatrists in cities like Cedar Rapids and Iowa City provide vital mental health care services for patients from throughout East Central Iowa, including towns like Coralville, Marion, and North Liberty, among many others. It is important not only to yourself, but to your patients and your community that you maintain your medical license and that you avoid disciplinary sanctions. In addition, as you probably know, psychiatry as a profession pays quite well, and if you are not able to practice because you’ve been restricted from doing so, it could be very hard to find another line of work that will provide close to the same level of income.
Even sanctions that do not restrict your ability to practice can be a problem. The Iowa Board of Medicine maintains a database that anybody can use to check the status of your license – and to see whether you have been sanctioned in the past. Every public disciplinary matter can affect your ability to both attract and keep patients, and can follow you for many years after the sanction has been issued.
In addition, if you are licensed in any other state, whether directly or through the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact, disciplinary sanctions that you receive in Iowa can affect your license in another state.
For all of these reasons, if you receive a notice that a misconduct complaint has been filed against you with the Iowa Board of Medicine, you need to take prompt steps to defend yourself against the allegations. And the best way to do that is with professional help – from experienced attorneys who regularly defend professional licensees, including psychiatrists, in similar situations.
The LLF National Law Firm’s Professional License Defense Team is here for you. We know the questions to ask to get the information we need to build you the strongest defense possible for your situation. We also know the kinds of arguments that resonate with licensing boards such as the Iowa Board of Medicine in disciplinary cases. And we know the policies, procedures, and timelines that apply in these cases so that you don’t have to worry about missing a deadline or providing requested information in a timely way. This leaves you with both a more effective defense – and more time to focus on providing care to your patients.
Disciplinary Actions Against Psychiatrists in East Central Iowa
Psychiatrists in East Central Iowa can be disciplined for a number of reasons. That said, there are some types of misconduct that are more commonly alleged than others. Some of these more common types of misconduct allegations include:
- Prescription issues. This can happen if a psychiatrist is accused of failing to maintain proper prescription records, of overprescribing controlled substances, of prescribing medicine without a proper medical reason, and of failing to properly monitor prescriptions.
- Sexual misconduct. These allegations can follow if the psychiatrist has a sexual relationship with a current or even a former patient, but can also arise based on comments or physical contact.
- Substance abuse. Any suggestion that a psychiatrist is practicing while intoxicated or under the influence of drugs – whether legal or illegal, prescribed or not – can trigger allegations of substance abuse.
- Malpractice. Depending on the allegation, a psychiatrist’s alleged failure to meet the standards of psychiatric care can result in malpractice allegations that can result in sanctions.
- Criminal conviction. A felony conviction for any reason can result in the psychiatrist’s license being terminated, and certain misdemeanor convictions may also result in an investigation and disciplinary action.
- Fraud. Allegations of insurance or Medicare/Medicaid fraud can also result in the psychiatrist facing sanctions that can affect their ability to practice in Iowa, as can any fraud that affects a patient directly.
- Confidentiality issues. When a psychiatrist fails to respect the patient’s right to confidentiality – particularly important when the patient’s mental health is at stake – the psychiatrist can face sanctions.
Not every complaint that the Iowa Board of Medicine receives will result in a disciplinary case. The Board will typically review the incoming complaint to make sure it alleges the kind of misconduct that the Board regulates. Rudeness from a psychiatrist’s staff member, for example, will not typically trigger an investigation, nor will allegations related to a billing dispute that does not include claims of fraud.
Complaints that do appear to fall within the Board’s jurisdiction will typically be investigated. The Board’s investigator is very likely to interview both the accused psychiatrist and the person who made the accusation. They may also interview the psychiatrist’s staff, co-workers, or others who may have information relevant to the issues raised in the complaint.
Help During Investigations
Investigations can take months and can feel very intrusive. You may be asked to provide documents relating to the allegations in the complaint, and you will almost certainly face an interview with the investigator at some point. You will also be able to respond to the complaint in writing.
Your written response is important. This is an opportunity to provide information to the Board that can support your defense, and to make arguments based on that defense that help make your case. At the LLF National Law Firm, our Professional License Defense Team regularly helps clients prepare these kinds of responses. We know how to present helpful evidence in a clear way, and to tie that evidence to strong arguments in favor of our clients. A strong and effective response to a Board complaint can help your case from the beginning.
We can also help when it comes to preparing for and sitting for your interview with the investigator. As a psychiatrist, you are probably used to asking the questions, not answering them. And you most likely do not have a lot of experience facing someone whose job it is to uncover information from you that could later be used against you. The attorneys from the LLF National Law Firm’s Professional License Defense Team, on the other hand, encounter these types of situations often as part of representing our professional licensing clients during misconduct investigations. We will prepare you for your interview, and can be there with you to make sure you are asked fair, clear questions that you understand.
Sometimes we may conduct our own investigation into the allegations made against you, especially if the Board’s investigator appears to have missed key pieces of evidence, or has not interviewed important potential witnesses. Because we have experience with investigations, we can often uncover information that is helpful to your defense, and bring it to the attention of the investigator or the Board, or both, as part of our efforts on your behalf.
After the Investigation
If the investigation fails to uncover information that supports the allegations made against you, the matter may be dropped by the Board. In other cases, the Board may issue a public Statement of Charges. You can respond to this, ideally with the help of an experienced attorney. Then, in most cases, there will be a chance to discuss the charges and potential ways to resolve those charges with the Board. As a practical matter, the vast majority of cases brought by the Board result in an agreed settlement.
Because these settlements can be negotiated, it can be enormously helpful to have someone on your side who has negotiated similar types of settlements in the past. This is something that the attorneys from the LLF National Law Firm’s Professional License Defense Team do on a regular basis for professional license clients, including psychiatrists, all across the country. We bring our experience to every negotiation we participate in, and that can directly benefit you when it is your reputation that is on the line.
When cases don’t settle, they will typically proceed to a hearing. This will be similar to a trial, at least in the way it is conducted. Both you and the Board can present evidence, put on and question witnesses, and make arguments. You have a right to be represented at the hearing by an attorney who can participate in the hearing on your behalf.
When the hearing is complete the Board will issue an order. That order may, in the best case, exonerate you and as a result there will be no sanction. On the other hand, if the Board rules against you, it will likely sanction you in some way. In either case, the Board’s order will note the findings that it has made based on the evidence considered at the hearing, and the conclusions it is making based on that evidence.
Potential Outcomes
There is a wide range of potential consequences if the Board rules against you. Because there is no fixed penalty for most types of misconduct, the Board generally has a lot of discretion when it comes to how it can discipline you. These same sanctions can also be part of an agreed resolution or settlement of your case.
In any case, it is important to keep these possible outcomes in mind. Not every case will lead to your license being suspended or revoked, but on the other hand, any kind of sanction that appears against your name in your public records can give a potential patient reason to keep looking for another psychiatrist in East Central Iowa.
Potential sanctions include:
- Non-Disciplinary Action. This can take the form of a private, informal letter of warning that will not be part of your public record. It is obviously the most favorable type of a sanction if any sanction is going to be issued.
- Public Citation. This takes the form of a formal reprimand that will be appended to your public record, but that will not restrict your ability to practice psychiatry.
- Civil Penalty. You may be fined for the violation or violations that the Board has determined took place.
- Practice Restrictions. The scope of your practice may be limited; for example, you may be required to be supervised under certain circumstances.
- Probation. The Board may require you to be closely monitored for a period of time; you may be required to report periodically as part of this.
- Rehabilitation. When substance abuse is an issue, the Board may condition your future ability to practice on the successful completion of a course of rehabilitation.
- Continuing Education. Particularly in situations where certain practice standards have not been met, you may be required to successfully complete one or more courses that focus on those areas.
- Suspension. Your license is temporarily suspended, either for a specific period of time or until you meet certain designated conditions (such as continuing education).
- Revocation. Your license is permanently revoked, and you are no longer allowed to practice psychiatry in Iowa.
The LLF National Law Firm Can Defend Your License in East Central Iowa
If you have been notified that a misconduct complaint has been filed against you with the Iowa Board of Medicine, you need to take it seriously and act promptly to begin to build your defense. The best way to make sure that happens in a timely and effective way is to contact the LLF National Law Firm’s Professional License Defense Team. The sooner we are on the job, the more quickly we can begin to gather information, protect your rights, and take much of the burden of dealing with the investigation and any complaint off your shoulders.
Your clients, be they from Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, or nearby towns, deserve your full focus. When the LLF National Law Firm’s Professional License Defense Team is on your side, you can take comfort in knowing that we are there to protect you and to do much of the work necessary to mount an effective defense. This is what we do – our experienced attorneys regularly help professionals of all types, including medical professionals such as psychiatrists, defend against misconduct allegations. We know the laws, regulations, rules, and procedures that apply in these cases, and we will use that knowledge to your benefit.
To learn more about what the LLF National Law Firm’s Professional License Defense Team can do to help protect your medical license and the future of your psychiatry practice in East Central Iowa, call us at 888.535.3686, or fill out and submit our online contact form. We will schedule a confidential consultation to learn more about your case and to explain how we will help protect you and your license.