Program Description

Since 1994 the APA Insurance Trust (“the Trust”) has been conducting Trust-sponsored Risk Management Workshops with the goal of increasing the knowledge of psychologists about basic risk management techniques.  To accommodate the large number of psychologists who have already attended this workshop, while still providing training to those who haven’t had the opportunity, we have updated this workshop incorporating material from the Trust Risk Management book, Assessing and Managing Risk in Psychological Practice: An Individualized Approach. While old material has been modified and new material added, the workshop retains the basic thrust of its predecessor: giving attendees risk management advice and procedures that protect them from adverse disciplinary events that could damage or destroy their careers.

Over the last ten years the number of reported claims has remained relatively static. The number of complaints to licensing boards and ethics committees, however, has increased significantly. As managed care continues to dominate third-party reimbursement, any adverse disciplinary event can seriously damage a psychologist’s career. In these difficult times, knowledge of legal and ethical standards and an effective risk management strategy have become crucial for psychologists. Based on an analysis of the ethical and legal rules governing professional practice, the workshop will provide practitioners with specific information about how to identify and analyze risk, how to identify situations that pose the greatest risks, and how to identify the legal and ethical standards appropriate in these situations. It will provide practical and effective strategies for identifying and effectively managing those situations in order to minimize the possibility of legal and ethical complaints, and maximize practitioners’ ability to effectively defend themselves when complaints are unavoidable.

The workshop will also consider controversies still unresolved by the HIPAA Privacy Rule, as well as provide an introduction to the Security Rule governing electronically stored PHI, which took effect on April 15, 2005. The workshop will also describe how practitioners can utilize the free confidential Trust Risk Management Consultation service as part of their own risk management strategies. The workshop includes comprehensive supporting materials.

About the Presenter

Eric Harris, Ed.D., J.D. A licensed psychologist and attorney, Dr. Harris is a consultant to the Trust, through which he provides risk management services to Trust policy holders. Dr. Harris is the legal counsel to the Massachusetts Psychological Association, where he served as the Director of Professional Affairs for ten years. He was a faculty member at the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology for more than 15 years. Dr. Harris served for many years on the APA Committee for the Advancement of Professional Practice (CAPP) and served two terms on the APA Committee on Legal Issues. In the fifteen years before Dr. Harris became a consultant to APAIT, he conducted a part-time clinical psychology practice. Dr. Harris has written, consulted and lectured extensively on risk management, legal issues and on managed care.

Learning Objectives

1. Learn what is new in the world of ethics.
2. Learn an approach to identifying and resolving ethical dilemmas that arise in professional practice.
3. Learn to identify practice situations that present the greatest risk to clinical practitioners, both now and in the future.
4. Learn essential information about disciplinary complaints and malpractice actions.
5. Review important HIPAA Privacy Rule issues and be introduced to the HIPAA Security Rule.
6. Provide essential information about laws governing therapeutic confidentiality and exceptions.
7. Learn the distinction between privilege and confidentiality.
8. Learn how and when to consult with others to reduce the risk of disciplinary complaints and demonstrate compliance with the appropriate standards of care.
9. Learn what information should and should not be included in the patient’s records.