Disclosure of patient safety incidents to patients or caregivers is a legal, ethical and professional obligation for physicians. Appropriate disclosure conversations facilitate dialogue during the incident management process and reinforces patient-physician trust. In this month’s episode, Steven and Yolanda discuss the best ways to handle disclosure of patient safety incidents and the importance of efficient communication in addressing patients’ needs throughout the process.

Decision support tools are designed to ease shared decision-making and patient involvement on health care decisions. When patients actively participate in decision-making and understand what is required of them, they are more likely to follow through. To establish an efficient shared decision making process, physicians must consider patients values, preferences and circumstances. In this month’s episode of CMPA Practically Speaking, our experts discuss the importance of patient’s decision aids to overcome communication challenges and build a strong patient-physician relationship.

When considering medical clearance for participation after injuries, there are numerous components to take into consideration to ensure physicians act within the standard of care, and that they keep patients’ best interest in mind. In this month’s episode, Steven and Yolanda discuss the precautions and responsibilities of both parties in assuring a safe return environment. The duo highlights the importance of shared decision-making to establish an efficient framework.

Surgeons put a tremendous amount of focus on mastering the technical skills and maximizing their knowledge base. Data from the CMPA's medico-legal files suggest that a number of adverse events involving surgeons are related to communication issues, rather than to poor surgical technique or insufficient knowledge. This episode identifies techniques to help physicians working in surgery settings reduce their risk of adverse events in the OR.

Steven and Yolanda discuss the ins and outs of routine team debriefs: What are they? Who should use them? How should they be implemented? How can they potentially improve patient safety?

Retirement, parental leave, illness, moving to a new practice – what considerations should be made when taking an unplanned leave of absence? This episode looks at the importance of planning for the unforeseen, and ensuring patients’ continuity of care is at the forefront of those arrangements.

Occasionally, physicians may be asked to provide medical care outside of their area of expertise. During the COVID-19 pandemic, for example, more physicians have been asked to fill-in on the ICU and in long-term care facilities. What are your rights as a physician? How can you best handle the situation? How do you ensure your patients’ safety? This episode covers these – and other questions – related to the risks and responsibilities when covering other specialties.

When is access to EMR deemed inappropriate? In this episode, Dr. Bellemare and Dr. Madarnas offer key considerations on how to avoid breaching privacy rules when accessing electronic medical records. The hosts review how privacy legislation, the circle of care, and custodianship of medical records affect how and when physicians can access medical records.

Dr. Wendy Levinson, Chair of Choosing Wisely Canada, joins the hosts to discuss tips on the safe management of wait times in order to promote safe care and decrease medical-legal risk for physicians.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, physicians have had to rapidly pivot their practices to include virtual care provision. In this podcast, Dr. Yolanda Madarnas, CMPA Physician Advisor, and Dr. Steven Bellemare, CMPA Director of Practice Improvement, identify key issues to consider for the provision of safe virtual care. Listen to them discuss how to include considerations around clinical judgment, standard of care, informed consent, and privacy to provide the best virtual care you can.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, physicians may be deployed to unfamiliar clinical units and may need to have difficult discussions around goals of care that they are not used to having, perhaps even with patients they don’t know. In this podcast, Dr. Yolanda Madarnas, CMPA Physician Advisor, and Dr. Steven Bellemare, CMPA Director of Practice Improvement, discuss the CMPA’s experience with cases involving end of life care. Listen to them discuss key messages that may help you effectively support patients and families who need to make plan of care choices as a result of a COVID-19-related critical illness.

Physicians routinely face challenging situations and difficult decisions. This can be morally distressing, especially during times of crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. In this podcast, Dr. Yolanda Madarnas, CMPA Physician Advisor, and Dr. Steven Bellemare, CMPA Director of Practice Improvement, are joined by Dr. Caroline Gérin-Lajoie, psychiatrist at The Ottawa Hospital, and Executive Vice-President of Physician Health and Wellness at the Canadian Medical Association. Listen to them discuss why it is important to recognize and manage moral distress and explore various coping strategies that physicians can adopt to stay well.

A public health emergency may force a shift away from the usual patient-first ethics, to a public-first approach. This episode covers the concept of reasonable care and the patient’s best interests to help you make sense of the unusual demands the COVID-19 pandemic may place on you.