Page 48 - 2022 Risk Basics - Surgical Practice

SVMIC Risk Basics: Surgical Practice

Any patient with a significantly abnormal result, sensitive

information, or a result requiring immediate action should be
personally notified, and those results should not be posted to

the portal prior to patient notification. In addition, if the

abnormal results include potentially serious or unanticipated
consequences, the results should be given to the patient by

the physician rather than a staff member. The notification of
the patient should be documented in the medical record.

The amount of follow-up required to communicate test results

is not clearly defined. However, there is an expectation that

because the physician has the superior medical knowledge
and, therefore, owes a duty to the patient to thoroughly explain

the results of the tests and his or her impact on the
recommended treatment course, follow-up should be

appropriate for the patient’s specific circumstances. The
reasonableness of the follow-up effort will depend on the

clinical importance of the test results, the severity of the

patient’s medical condition, and the risk associated with failing
to notify the patient of the results.

A patient portal may also offer options designed to facilitate

appointment management. The physician may opt to only
allow the patient to view existing appointments but not allow a

patient to schedule or cancel an appointment without

contacting the office. Patients find portals convenient and
time-saving. Verify that the patient’s appointment view is

enabled so they may view all of their appointments on the
portal. If your protocol is to ask patients to speak with an office

staff member for appointment scheduling, enable a standard
patient response to a patient’s attempt to schedule,

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