We welcome Dean McConnell, deputy general counsel at Copic, as this episode’s guest who shares his thoughts on handling subpoenas, especially those involving medical records. McConnell starts by describing key details about subpoenas, the requirements of serving subpoenas, and how medical providers can confirm the validity of a subpoena. He explains the importance of carefully reviewing the scope of medical records requests and only producing the requested information while respecting confidentiality and privileges due to HIPAA, physician-patient privilege, and attorney-client privilege. In addition, Dean walks through a list of pitfalls to avoid with subpoenas, along with practical suggestions and when to seek legal counsel.

In this episode, we talk with Heidi Baskfield, the founder of Speak Our Minds, an organization dedicated to addressing the youth mental health crisis in the United States. Baskfield talks about her journey from political advocacy to health leadership and the committed effort required to transform youth mental health care. Their conversation explores the overwhelming mental health needs of children and the insufficiency of existing resources, which led to the declaration of a state of emergency in Colorado regarding youth mental health. Baskfield outlies four principle aims that Speak Our Minds is focused on: building robust systems of care, bolstering prevention and early intervention, addressing disproportionate impact in communities, and supporting the mental health workforce.

This episode features a conversation with Kate Castells, a risk management nurse at Copic, who talks about remote patient monitoring (RPM) wearables. They discuss the evolution and range of RPMs, from FDA-approved medical devices to consumer smart watches, with a focus on the clinical value of data collected and what can be used in medical decision-making. In addition, they look at the risks of using consumer device data, the importance of staff and patient education, and the potential benefits that may support care for certain patients.

This episode’s guest is Dr. Josina Romero O'Connell, Director of the Colorado Area Health Education Center (AHEC). Dr. Romero O'Connell highlights AHEC’s mission to improve healthcare access and education in rural and underserved areas of Colorado. She talks about AHEC’s focus to address workforce diversity, equitable provider distribution, and practice transformation by supporting students in rural clerkships, providing continuing education, and offering community health education events. Dr. Romero O'Connell also highlights how challenges in rural healthcare such as health center closures and obstetrics deserts are being addressed by fostering community integration for healthcare providers to improve retention. In addition, the discussion covers the HOPE program, which is designed to get high school students interested in healthcare careers; and the AHEC Scholars Program, which provides learners of all ages with experiential hours and educational modules focused on underserved care.

This episode features Darline Turner from Healing Hands Community Doula Project, which aims to support expectant mothers, particularly in the Black community, through their pregnancy journey. The grant from the Copic Medical Foundation is being used for a program that trains perinatal community health workers to provide extensive support, including birth and postpartum planning, lactation guidance, family dynamics, and more. This initiative primarily serves Medicaid populations, addressing additional complexities such as Medicaid reimbursement, and aims to improve overall birth outcomes.

Medication errors are traditionally defined as an avoidable event, but they don’t just happen during the prescribing phase. In fact, it’s important to remember that there are many steps—transcribing, dispensing, and administering—where an error can occur. To learn more about pediatric medication errors specifically, we invited COPIC Patient Safety and Risk Manager, Kayla Boyd, to the podcast. In this episode, Kayla looks at the overall process of pediatric medication prescription, from diagnosis to accurate compilation of records to ongoing monitoring. Plus, you’ll hear about ways to avoid adverse outcomes and mitigate risks with young children, appropriate ways to handle transfer of prescriptions, and continuing education to prevent mistakes.

This episode features Liz Warman and Mandy Johnson from the Kansas Health Care Collaborative and focuses on the organization’s transition-in-care program that aims to leverage Health Information Exchange (HIE) to reduce care fragmentation and improve health outcomes by developing processes, workflows, and policies in clinics. This initiative is supported by grant funding from the Copic Medical Foundation and the model used has shown significant efficacy in reducing readmissions. The program received a high level of engagement from clinics and hospitals across Kansas and next steps include creating a rural network of facilities using HIE data, with the goal of scaling the model nationally to improve rural healthcare quality and reduce costs.

In this episode, Matt Groves, Copic’s General Counsel, talks about the impact of recent federal executive orders and legislation on healthcare providers. He provides general information about new federal initiatives and their potential risks, emphasizing the rapid changes and uncertainty in the legal landscape. Matt explains the differences between executive orders and legislation, and the concept of federal preemption over state laws. The discussion also covers the executive order on gender-affirming care, its implications for funding, and the potential risks for healthcare providers, including criminal and civil liabilities. In addition, the episode addresses issues related to immigration enforcement and abortion, providing guidance on how healthcare providers can navigate these complex legal areas.

The episode features staff from AIRnyc—Lola Simpson, Chief Executive Officer; Kathleen Agaton, Chief Impact Officer; and Lydia Baez, Senior Outreach Coordinator and Community Health Worker. AIRnyc received a grant from the Copic Medical Foundation to support their efforts to reduce fragmentation in prenatal and postpartum clinical and social care for high-risk Black and Latinx pregnant persons. The discussion highlights AIRnyc’s focus on addressing developmental delays in children and implementing a two-generation model for maternal and child health, which involves working with both mothers and children.

For this episode, we sit down with Copic’s General Counsel, Matt Groves, to talk about non-compete agreements in the medical field. The discussion starts with looking at the purpose of non-compete agreements such as protecting patient revenue, preventing competition, and safeguarding the investment in recruiting and developing physicians. Matt highlights key legal terminology (e.g., non-solicit, non-disclosure, and liquidated damages clauses), the various ways these agreements are enforced, and how they may vary by state. In addition, he reinforces the importance of seeking legal advice before signing non-competes, especially in situations where you are negotiating terms.

This episode features Mary Tucker and Garrett Chism discussing an interprofessional education pilot program between Metropolitan State University of Denver and Denver Health. The program is supported by a grant from the Copic Medical Foundation and focuses on simulation training for nursing and EMT students to improve patient outcomes. The objectives include evaluating critical changes in patient assessment, completing trauma assessments, and demonstrating closed-loop communication. A key aim is to teach students from different disciplines to communicate effectively and understand each other's roles to reduce errors in patient care.

We welcome Beth Chow, an occurrence nurse with Copic, who provides some great perspective about the benefits and value of early reporting of incidents. Beth explains the interchangeable terms "occurrence" and "incident" and clarifies what constitutes an adverse event and the types of events you should report to your medical liability insurance carrier. She goes on to explain how Copic’s reporting process works, why early reporting does not negatively impact your policy or premiums, and how early intervention programs like Copic’s 3Rs Program and Candor help resolve issues and maintain open communication with patients.

This episode’s guest is Andrea Dwyer, the Director of the Colorado Cancer Screening Program at the Colorado School of Public Health/University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. The discussion focuses on colorectal cancer screening, its importance, methods, and challenges. We start by looking at common risks leading to medical liability lawsuits in colorectal cancer cases, including failure to work up symptoms, follow up on incidental findings, offer screening, and appreciate positive screening tests. Andrea explains various colorectal cancer screening modalities and highlights the importance of follow-up colonoscopies after positive stool-based tests. In addition, she talks about patient barriers to colorectal cancer screening and updated screening guidelines.

Amy Herum, a nurse and patient safety and risk manager with Copic, joins us to talk about the purpose and scope of EMTALA. Amy explains the situations that trigger EMTALA obligations and the definition and assessment of an “emergency medical condition.” The discussion then looks at the requirements and process of transferring a patient under EMTALA, the penalties and consequences of violating EMTALA, and the conditions that end EMTALA obligations such as when a medical screening exam shows no emergency medical condition, the patient is transferred to another hospital in compliance, or when the patient refuses examination, treatment, or transfer and signs an informed refusal or against medical advice form.

Our guest is Anna Barr, a patient safety and risk manager with Copic, who joins us to talk about terminating the provider-patient relationship. The discussion starts by looking at the main considerations before terminating a patient: trying to mend the relationship by using effective communication and conflict resolution skills, assessing the clinical situation, the risk of abandonment, the possibility of discrimination, and the contractual obligations that may apply. Anna then highlights key termination steps such as notifying and assisting the patient, and documentation. She also talks about the benefits of having a practice-wide policy for non-compliance or disruptive behavior that can help prevent situations that may lead to termination.

This episode features Renee Blattman, a nurse and risk manager with Copic, who has 20 years of experience in the perioperative environment. The discussion focuses on the challenges and risks in this environment—a high-paced, high-volume, and fast-turnover setting, where there is a lot of pressure to keep the patients moving and the OR schedule tight. Renee talks about the growth and trends in ambulatory surgery centers along with the increased risks of discharge and follow-up care, as patients may need more education and support at home. In addition, she highlights how a culture of safety is essential and how this includes being proactive, collaborative, and mindful as a team.

In this episode, our guest is Heather Westermeyer, a Patient Safety and Risk Manager with COPIC, and the topic is documentation. Heather highlights the role documentation plays in continuity of care—from ensuring an accurate medical history to supporting communication among providers. She also talks about how documentation serves a key purpose in legal protection/defense in medical liability issues and the importance of articulating your thought process. In addition, the discussion touches on best practices, standardized templates and protocols, and the dangers of copying and pasting.

LaDonna Kelley, a nurse risk manager with COPIC, is the guest for this episode, which looks at patient safety and risk management for geriatric patients. LaDonna tells a personal story about the challenges with caring for this patient population and how certain situational factors impact their care experience. She mentions issues such as hearing limitations, technology, and mobility and being aware of these during interactions. The conversation also examines communication challenges and the importance of clear communication with geriatric patients.

In this episode, we talk with Carrie Beth Roddy, a COPIC Patient Safety and Risk Manager, who joins Dr. Zacharias for a conversation on Just Culture. Carrie starts with defining the concept of Just Culture, explaining how it is being integrated into traditional medical culture, and the importance of using it to create opportunities to prevent future medical errors. We dig into the difference between human and system errors, factors that contribute to Just Culture’s success, how it facilitates more open discussions among providers while ensuring the highest level of safe treatment for patients, and ways that it supports meaningful interactions in the healthcare workplace.

This episode features COPIC Patient Safety and Risk Manager, Amanda Heinrichs, who discusses the importance of documentation—from sharing patient information with other medical team members to supporting care decisions. Amanda covers a wide breadth of documentation issues, such as limiting documentation to only facts about the case, moving past finger-pointing in the event of an undesirable outcome, and timely documentation to ensure quality of care. Furthermore, she talks about insights from attorneys, the pros and cons of using scribes, and conducting assessments to evaluate what is going on with patients to support your documentation.