Tag: license application

Licensure applications and the dreaded “yes questions”

Posted on July 12, 2016 by - Licensure

I recently discussed a few of the many mandatory reporting obligations imposed on physicians and nurses. Today I want to discuss the “dreaded yes questions.”

A dreaded yes question is a question you want to answer “no,” but truthfulness requires that you answer “yes,” hence the question is dreaded.

For example, last week, a physician asked me how to answer a boilerplate question found on many residency applications, and a nurse asked me to help her report a drug and alcohol-related arrest on her renewal application. The question on the residency application asks, “Is there anything in your past history that would limit your ability to be licensed or would limit your ability to receive hospital privileges?” To answer this question, one would need to know what kind of things limit the ability to be licensed, or to gain hospital privileges. Without relevant experience, this question will be difficult to answer. The renewal question for the nurse, involving drug and alcohol-related arrest and her renewal application, was much more straight forward.

License renewal applications and DUII arrests and convictions

I am often asked about the need to report driving under the influence of intoxicants (drunk driving or DUII) arrests and convictions, and less often about the need to report a drunk driving arrest that did not result in a conviction. One recent case illustrates the complexity of the various mandatory reporting requirements. I represented a physician who had been arrested, but was not convicted, for driving under the influence of intoxicants. The physician was licensed in three states. The phrasing of the question on the renewal applications was all important, and it differed state-by-state. One state required a conviction to be reported, but not a mere arrest. Another state required that the arrest be reported, regardless of whether there had been a conviction. The third state was a close-call case.

What to do with close-call questions on license renewal applications

Occasionally, the facts and circumstances, combined with the phrasing of the question on the renewal application, will make the answer too close to call with desired certainty. Is these cases, an experienced healthcare defense attorney can advise you on the risks of not reporting, versus the benefits of reporting to ensure compliance with your mandatory reporting requirements. An experienced healthcare defense attorney can also do something you should not, and that is to make a call to the right person at your licensing Board, in an effort to learn more, but without disclosing your name.

One final caveat about the failure to report

In my experience, those choosing not to report a reportable incident deeply regret that decision once the incident comes to the attention of their licensing Board. The failure to report simply adds another layer to the investigation and exposes you to additional scrutiny because your veracity is now in question.

 

Do license applications cause a sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach?

Posted on November 8, 2015 by - Licensure

If you are a physician, pharmacist, or nurse applying for a new license, or submitting a renewal application on an existing license, you have faced the “disclosure questions” that can be troublesome for some to answer. If you have recently hit the “submit” button, and experienced a sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach, you know what I am talking about.

Avoiding mistakes in the first place – one example

A common example is the arrest, stop, or conviction for driving under the influence of intoxicants – or a DUII. You must read the disclosure questions carefully, and just because you answered “no” in one state does not mean you will be able to answer “no” in all states in which you are licensed, or seek a new license. For example, a physician licensed in California, Oregon, and Washington, filing online renewal applications, will face different questions in each state and, depending on the facts of the DUII, may not need to disclose the traffic stop in Californian or Washington, but will almost always be required to disclose the traffic stop in Oregon. It all comes down to the specific facts of your case and how each state’s disclosure questions are worded and, with respect to this example, the Oregon Board of Medicine asks the tougher question. To avoid mistakes, it is necessary to read the disclosure questions very carefully, and to answer each question accurately. If you have a doubt, or experience that sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach, stop, and consult an experienced licensure lawyer immediately.

Too late? – Correct your mistake by filing an amended application

If you are a physician, pharmacists or nurse, and you have recently answered “no” to a disclosure question that required a “yes” answer, if you take quick action, it is not too late to amend your license application, to correct your mistake. I recently represented a out-of-state nurse that found herself in such a position. She had a minor criminal history incurred while she was young, before she was a nurse. She very much wanted an Oregon nurse’s license, and she did not want to make a mistake that would risk her license application, but the moment she submitted her online application to the Oregon State Board of Nursing, she feared she has acted too quickly, and that sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach set in. She called me, and I quickly called the Oregon State Board of Nursing, to ask that the Board hold off and wait for our amended application. Together we reviewed her application for completeness, and determined a small amount of information should be supplemented, and we quickly furnished it to the Board of Nursing, supplementing, or amending, her previous application. The Board of Nursing responding favorably, and she is now an Oregon registered nurse.

What not to do

I am aware of one case involving an out-of-state pharmacist that never disclosed a decades-old drunk driving arrest, and another case involving a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) that never disclosed a decades-old disorderly conduct arrest. Their failure to disclose in other states went undetected for numerous renewal periods, creating a false sense of comfort, until the pharmacist and the nurse each applied for licenses in Oregon, with the Oregon Board of Pharmacy and the Oregon State Board of Nursing, and their failure to disclose was caught.

For whatever reason, an old incident that should have been disclosed in each case, but was not, and was never caught elsewhere, was caught in Oregon. I don’t know if this was due to constant improvements in search engines and data banks, or if the background checks in Oregon are more rigorous, but it matters not – if disclosure was required, and the failure to disclosure is caught, you have a problem.

Medical licensing Boards see the failure to disclose as a veracity problem, not a mistake, and oftentimes the failure to disclose is worse than the underlying problem that required disclosure in the first place. Do not make this mistake. Take proactive steps to correct your application before the mistake is discovered. Please know that once the mistake is caught by your licensing Board, it is no longer considered a mistake. You now have a larger problem.