Kansas and Missouri Professional Licensing Attorney Danielle Sanger Discusses Ethical Violations in the Psychology Profession

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Psychologists are highly respected members of their communities. In turn, they are expected to live up to a very high ethical standard. I frequently advise psychologists about their professional obligations and the best ways to avoid allegations of impropriety. Because psychologists are entrusted with confidential information, money, and private physical access to patients, there are many opportunities for a disgruntled former client or colleague to make an allegation of wrongdoing. As a result, it is essential to avoid situations where these sort of accusations could arise.

If you are a psychologist in Kansas or Missouri facing an ethics investigation, call attorney Sanger today at 785-979-4353 to schedule a free consultation. Do not agree to speak with an investigator without an experienced attorney by your side. Your career, reputation, and livelihood are at risk, and the challenge facing you is one you cannot navigate alone.

Attain Informed Consent

At the outset of your professional relationship with a new client, you must attain his or her “informed consent,” meaning you must provide sufficient information regarding the parameters of confidentiality, record keeping practices, your expertise and training, services you do and do not offer, expected duration of therapy, the patient’s right to end treatment, and fees and billing practices. Failing to provide this information in writing often leads to miscommunication and complaints later.

Understand Appropriate Relationship Boundaries

You have been taught the rules regarding relationship boundaries.  However, we are all human, and relationships tend to evolve in complex and surprising ways.  Never have a romantic or physical relationship with a patient.  Similarly, you should never see a family member, business associate, or close friend as a patient.  While it may seem harmless at the time when this line is crossed, I tend to see complaints come later, when the romantic or business relationship dissolves and feelings are raw.

Stay Within Your Area of Expertise

While it may be tempting to help someone out with a problem outside your area of expertise, it is not a wise decision to do so.  If you practice outside your area of expertise, you are exposing yourself to possible complaints that you lacked competency to handle your client’s problems.

Follow the rules Regarding Confidentiality

Follow the APA Ethics Code regarding confidentiality.  Whether you live in a major city or small town, disclosing a client’s confidential treatment information to anyone is a significant breach of ethics.  Even if this information is formally requested from you, your ethical duty is only to disclose as little information as possible.

Practice Ethical and Transparent Billing Practices

Accurately bill your client and insurers.  Keep careful, accurate records of bills and supply duplicate copies upon request.  Do not provide services that you do not bill for, and do not let patients pay for services that their insurance companies do not cover.

Know How and When to Terminate the Therapeutic Relationship

As you know, it is your ethical duty to terminate treatment if the client has ceased benefiting from your treatment. Similarly, if your client is no longer benefiting from treatment, you must also end your professional relationship. In these situations, you must clearly explain why your ongoing treatment is no longer appropriate. If another provider can help the patient, make a referral.  While these are sensitive conversations that you will have face-to-face with your client to avoid any feelings of rejection, you should document them thoroughly in your notes and a follow-up letter to the patient so that there is no miscommunication.

Contact an Experienced Kansas and Missouri Licensing Attorney Now

As a psychologist, you have worked extremely hard to attain your license and the respect of your community.  An inquiry from a licensing board regarding your professional actions and decisions means that your livelihood is in jeopardy. If an investigation ensues, you will need help in gathering and organizing evidence, hiring expert witnesses, cross-examining witnesses, among other tasks.  Contacting an experienced licensing attorney to help you through this process and can mean the difference between getting back to serving your clients and losing your career forever.

Kansas and Missouri professional licensing attorney Danielle Sanger is prepared to advocate for your best interests and defend you. Call Attorney Sanger at 785-979-4353 to schedule a free consultation with an attorney experienced dealing with licensing issues.

 

 

Kansas and Missouri Professional Licensing Attorney Danielle Sanger Explains Why Pharmacists Under Investigation Need to Stay Off Social Media

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Are you a pharmacist that has either received either a notice of investigation from your employer, a notice of an investigation from your licensing board, or a notice of a pharmacy audit? Any one of these notices means that an allegation of misconduct may have been made against you and that your career is in jeopardy.  I have written many blog posts about my general advice to remain silent in this situation but wanted to focus an entire post on the need to entirely refrain from using social media while this review of your professional conduct occurs.

I wrote the following blog post to explain the social media steps you should take, and more importantly avoid if you receive a complaint from your state licensing board or employer. If you are a pharmacist in Kansas or Missouri facing an allegation of misconduct or an investigation, call attorney Sanger today at 785-979-4353 to schedule a free consultation. Your career, reputation, and livelihood are at risk, and the challenge facing you is one you cannot work your way through alone.

Why Social Media is So Tricky for Pharmacists

Popular social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are all enjoyable ways to communicate with friends and family and to tell the world what is going on in your life, but they also serve as a permanent record of conversations that may be misconstrued by an investigator or disciplinary board. As a pharmacist, you are expected to display a professional and trusted persona.  As a result, social media platforms are a horrible place to complain about an investigation into your conduct at work. No matter how upset or angry an investigation makes you refrain from commenting about it on social media. In fact, I always go a step further and recommend that my pharmacist clients delete their social media profiles altogether while any allegations against them are pending.

Social media mistakes tend to fall into two categories.  First, it is easy to make a post or statement that will be taken out of context later; complaints about an investigation or your employer are particularly easy to misconstrue.  Second, we all post wacky pictures from our vacations and good times with our friends.  But while you are under investigation, photos you post, even after-hours behavior, can be used to support their allegation that you are drinking too much, abusing drugs, or otherwise acting unprofessionally.

When you express yourself on social media, you are “speaking” to the world, including the investigator or board reviewing your conduct. As you have seen numerous times on television crime dramas, “you have the right to remain silent,” and I advise you to exercise that right vigorously.  Simply put, do not make any statement to anyone without an attorney by your side, including on social media.

Contact an Experienced Kansas and Missouri Licensing Attorney Now for the Advice You Need

You have worked too hard to attain your pharmacist’s license to lose it because you failed to attain professional legal advice. Staying off of social media while an investigation is pending is just one piece of advice that you need to observe; speak with a licensing defense attorney to arm yourself with the other essential pieces of advice you need.  Contacting an experienced licensing attorney can mean the difference between getting back to helping your clients and losing your career forever.

Kansas and Missouri professional licensing attorney Danielle Sanger is prepared to advocate for your best interests and defend your pharmacist’s license. Call Attorney Sanger at 785-979-4353 to schedule a free consultation with an attorney experienced dealing with professional licensing issues.

 

 

 

Kansas and Missouri Professional Licensing Attorney Danielle Sanger Discusses the Most Common Reasons Physical Therapists Lose Their Licenses

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Physical therapists are particularly vulnerable to allegations of misconduct, as they have close contact with clients, have access to client’s confidential information, and are often working with clients one-on-one. Physical therapists often ask me if there are particular behaviors they should avoid or best practices they should adopt. Because I am so frequently asked about this topic, I have written the following blog post to outline the most high-risk behaviors.

If you are a physical therapist in Kansas or Missouri facing an allegation of misconduct or an investigation, call attorney Sanger today at 785-979-4353 to schedule a free consultation. Your career, reputation, and livelihood are at risk, and the challenge facing you is one you cannot work your way through alone.

Top Threats to Physical Therapists’ Licenses

In my years defending physical therapists’ professional licenses, the following are the most common examples of conduct that results in allegations of unprofessional or unethical conduct:

Sexual Misconduct.  You should never have any sexual or romantic relationship with a patient, as this is one of the surest ways to lose your license. Similarly, you should not treat someone with whom you have previously had a sexual or romantic relationship. While either of these scenarios may not seem problematic when they are occurring, once the relationship ends and one party is spurned, allegations quickly arise.

Drug and Alcohol Abuse. If your drug or alcohol use is impairing your ability to do work with your clients, you are extremely likely to face some discipline. Even if you are not impaired at work, if your drug or alcohol use is close to your work hours, you are likely to be perceived as unprofessional—don’t take the risk.  Finally, the use of illegal drugs or using prescription drugs without a prescription, even if the use is unrelated to your employment, is likely to jeopardize your ability to work in any medical setting.

Fraud and Misrepresentation. Never promise or perform treatments that you are untrained or unlicensed to perform. Never bill for a procedure you did not perform or for unnecessary treatment. Not only is this sort of behavior dishonest and wrong, but it is also very likely to result in being caught, as insurance companies have advanced methods of noticing and proving fraud.

Patient Abuse. It does not need much explanation, never touch your client without his or her consent. Never touch your client sexually or in a manner that could be perceived as sexual in nature.

Contact an Experienced Kansas and Missouri Licensing Attorney Now

You have worked too hard to attain your physical therapy license. Allegations based on miscommunications, inter-office conflict, and vengeful patients can cost you that license, even if they are not true. Physical therapists often come to my office for a consultation after they have received a notice of investigation from either their employer or licensing board.  Sometimes they are still in a good position, and there is a lot I can do to either minimize the damage or have it dismissed altogether.  However, there are other times when there is very little I can do because the medical professional involved has tried to “go it alone” or tried “to be helpful,” thinking that these may be successful strategies. They aren’t. Contact an experienced licensing attorney now to protect your interests.

Kansas and Missouri professional licensing attorney Danielle Sanger is prepared to advocate for your best interests and defend you. Call Attorney Sanger at 785-979-4353 to schedule a free consultation with an attorney experienced dealing with professional licensing issues.

 

Kansas and Missouri Professional Licensing Attorney Danielle Sanger Explains What Nurses Should Do if They Receive a Notice of Investigation

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Nurses often come to my office for a consultation after they have received a notice of investigation from either their employer, a medical center, or the state licensing board. They are worried that allegations against them will result in a loss of their nursing license.  In some cases, these nurses have already made a full statement to a member of the human resources staff investigating the allegations or to an investigator from the state nursing board. Unfortunately, in these situations, the damage to their license is often already done. Investigators are trained to be friendly and disarming, so it is natural to think speaking with them may help a nurse’s case—it won’t.

But what should you do if you are a nurse contacted by an investigator regarding allegations of misconduct? I wrote the following blog post to explain the steps you should take, and more importantly avoid if you receive a complaint from your state licensing board or employer. If you are a nurse in Kansas or Missouri facing an allegation of misconduct or an investigation, call attorney Sanger today at 785-979-4353 to schedule a free consultation. Your career, reputation, and livelihood are at risk, and the challenge facing you is one you cannot work your way through alone.

Don’t Do the Investigator’s Work

The stakes are high.  The investigator looking into an allegation against you may have little or no evidence, only an accusation. Your statement may be the only evidence to support a claim, and it is easy to misconstrue your comments made under pressure in a manner that makes you look guilty. To defend yourself, you may accidentally disclose some other misconduct.  For example, I have seen nurses accused of abusing opioids. In a misguided attempt to defend themselves, they denied using opioids but conceded that they do use marijuana after work to relax.  While they may have been right to deny the opioid use, they are now under investigation for using other illegal drugs.

Remain Silent

Always remain silent until you have spoken to an attorney. As you have seen numerous times on crime dramas, “you have the right to remain silent,” and you should exercise that right.  Simply put, do not make any statement to anyone without an attorney by your side. It is a massive mistake to think you can handle an investigative meeting alone or that you can play along with the investigation to make things go away. You are just digging yourself into a deeper hole and playing into the investigating agency’s hands when you attempt that sort of foolish strategy.

Do Not Ignore the Allegations Against You

While you should not speak with investigators or give any statement, you also should not ignore the allegations against you. Failing to respond to any complaints against you will only bolster the argument that you are not performing your work professionally.

Do Not Speak About the Matter with Friends, Family, and Coworkers

Only speak to your attorney about the claims against you. Your statements to your attorney fall within the attorney-client privilege and do not have to be disclosed. Anyone else can be questioned and must disclose your comments.  Your coworkers are likely to be asked about your conduct and statements, so especially avoid making statements to them about anything related to your case.

Nurse Under Investigation? Contact a Kansas and Missouri Licensing Attorney Now

As a nurse, you have worked too hard to attain your nursing license to lose it because you spoke too freely to an investigator. Contacting an experienced professional license defense attorney to help you through the investigative process and can mean the difference between getting back to helping your patients and losing your career forever.

Kansas and Missouri professional licensing attorney Danielle Sanger is prepared to advocate for your best interests and defend you. Call Attorney Sanger at 785-979-4353 to schedule a free consultation with an attorney experienced dealing with professional licensing issues.