|
RM Services
Frequently Asked Questions
Office Practice Risk Evaluations
Arbitration
Self-Evaluation Toolkit
RM Articles
CAPsules Editions
CME Program/Schedule
RM Questions
RM Materials / Forms
RM Alerts
Case Of The Month - Past Issues
|
Medical / Legal Q&A:
FAILURE TO
REPORT SUSPECTED
ELDER ABUSE
By Dan Groszkruger, JD, MPH
Consulting Editor
|
Q:
Does a physician’s failure to report known or suspected elder abuse violate the Elder Abuse laws?
|
A:
Probably. But, there is no clear answer, and appellate courts have yet to address the issue. If you have
created a physician-patient relationship, you should assume that you are a mandatory reporter. It is clear
that “mandatory reporters” must report suspected elder abuse. Also, it is clear that certain physicians will
be viewed as mandatory reporters, depending on the specific circumstances. Exactly how or when a physician
may “cross the line” remain unclear.
For patient care facilities, the answer is clear. Long-term care facilities, such as nursing homes, must
report all incidents of suspected elder abuse, including physical or financial abuse and neglect.1 A physician
who assumes the role of nursing home Medical Director probably shares the facility’s duty to report suspected
elder abuse.
Similarly, those persons who qualify as “mandatory reporters” must report suspected elder abuse.2
Mandatory reporters include individuals who assume full or intermittent responsibility for the care or
custody of an elder or dependent adult, or “any elder or dependent adult care custodian, health practitioner,
or employee” of a protective services agency or local law enforcement agency. The term “health practitioner”
has been defined to include licensed physicians, and others.3
Until the requirements of the Elder Abuse laws are clarified, physicians are well advised to assume that any
known or suspected elder abuse coming to their attention must be reported to the local ombudsman or law
enforcement agency, immediately by telephone, and in writing, within two working days.4 The good news
is that reporters of suspected elder abuse are immune from civil or criminal liability.5
1 Cal. Health & Safety Code § 1418.91.
2 Cal. Welfare & Institutions Code § 15630.
3 Cal. Welfare & Institutions Code § 15610.37.
4 Cal. Welfare & Institutions Code § 15630(b)(1).
5 Cal. Welfare & Institutions Code § 15634.
|
