Wiki Follow up on ordered testing/referrals, what is legal?

[Yathink67]

Good morning,
I am wondering if anyone can tell me if there is a LEGAL number of times a provider's office must reach out to a patient to request they obtain an ordered test and/or referral?
We do have a policy in place. We reach out to the patient two weeks after the test/referral was ordered, then again two weeks later. The third attempt is a letter mailed to the patient
asking that they get the ordered test/referral as soon as possible. Two weeks after that, if the patient has not gotten the testing done, we send a message to the provider.

This is where I feel we should be done, but our providers will tell us to keep trying with the patient. I understand the providers are ordering tests they feel necessary to treat their patients,
BUT how many times do we legally HAVE to reach out before we can not be held liable. We document each outreach. At this point, I feel we have done our due diligence after three attempts,
but again, providers want us to keep trying. I feel It is a waste of our resources to continue to follow up with non-compliant patients, but I can not find an answer to this anywhere.

Appreciate any input you all may have.
Thanks!

 

[thomas7331]

I'm not sure that there is a legal requirement, but you may wish to check with your malpractice insurance carrier or practice attorney to see if they are aware of any specific requirements in your state. It's been my understanding that providers do this, not because there is a specific law that says they have to, but to protect themselves against malpractice lawsuits in the event that a patient becomes ill due to failure to follow-up on treatment and makes the accusation that the provider was negligent by not informing them that it was necessary.

If your providers are making an effort and sending a letter (presumably a certified letter with return receipt so that you have written documentation on file that the message was received by the patient) then you have probably done all that is legally necessary to protect the providers. However, no matter how many times you contact the patient, you can never completely guarantee that a patient will not get upset down the road and try to file a lawsuit.

All that said, if the providers wish to continue contacting the patients out of a concern for the patients' well-being, then that is their prerogative as the owners of the practice.

 

[Yathink67]

I agree with you 100%. Although I believe two phone calls and a letter is sufficient, you are correct, ultimately up to the owner of the practice.
I also understand the physician's wanting to do what is best for their patient, but on the other hand, how much babysitting should we really do?
I mean when does the patient take responsibility for their healthcare if they refuse to bother to go for testing. On average we are reaching out to some
of these non-compliant patients 6-8 times and they still fail to get the required testing done. Our practice has decided that after the fourth attempt
the patient will receive yet another letter telling them they will be dismissed in 30 days for non therapeutic relationship, but we have yet to send any
of those letters out.