Bullet-Proofing Your Practice

Judy C. Roberts, MA, LMHC and Robert E. Smith, Attorney-at-Law

About the workshop

This workshop is designed to provide the private practice mental health clinician with an ethical and legal first-aid kit for their practice. In addition to the day-long presentation/discussion of information, each attendee will receive a hefty manual of materials, forms, resources, and more, for their reference and to use in their own practice.

Topics Include:

Selecting a Business Entity

Business Elements

Insurance Coverage

Selected Tax Issues

Using Business "Advisors"

Selecting Malpractice Insurance

3rd Party Contractual Obligations

Using a Sliding Scale

Essential HIPAA Forms

Other Essential Forms

HIPAA Business Associate Requirements

Specific Patient Rights and Our Corresponding Obligations

Securing PHI

PHI Disclosure Headaches

Telephone Therapy

New Mandatory Reports of Unprofessional Conduct

Duty to Report and Option of Warning

Implementing Informed Consent

The Clinical Record

Pro-Active Documentation

Business Records

Elements of Billing

Electronic Records

Releasing Client Information

Subpoenas and Court Orders

Parents, Guardians, GALs and Executors

Testimonial Privilege

Ethical and Legal Aspects of Informed Consent

Minors, Parental Rights and Contractual Privacy

Therapy and the Internet

Supervision, Consultation and Peer Consultation

Ownership of Records

Personal Representatives

Deceased Clients

Closing Your Private Practice

Learning Objectives:

Examine client's specific privacy rights and a counselor's corresponding duties to a patient with respect to each right.

Discuss elements constituting a legally sufficient Client Authorization.

Explain compulsory process and how to respond to letters, subpoenas, warrants, and other court orders.

Inspect the ways in which HIPAA interacts with Washington privacy laws.

Analyze differences between supervision, consultation and peer consultation.

Assess the hazards and limitations in giving opinion testimony and in interacting with evaluators and GALS.

Examine recordkeeping processes in relation to identified recordkeeping functions.

Review current procedures relating to use of the internet in one's practice

About the presenter

Judy C. Roberts, MA, LMHC , received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Seattle Pacific College in 1968, and a Masters of Arts in Education (counseling) from Seattle University in 1989. She began her private practice in 1989 and currently works full time in her Seattle practice seeing individual adults, couples, & older adolescents. She has served as the ethics chair for both Seattle Counselors Association and the Washington Mental Health Counselors Association since 1992, and was a founding board member of the Washington State Coalition of Mental Health Professionals and Consumers, the Pro-bono Therapy Network for Sexual Abuse Survivors, and the Puget Sound Group Psychotherapy Network.

Since 1992, Ms Roberts has been teaching professional ethics & legal issues as an adjunct faculty member at Antioch University’s graduate psychology program in Seattle, and for the past nine years has conducted many continuing education workshops and in-service trainings for mental health clinicians in WA State.

Robert E. Smith, Attorney-at-Law, received his two degrees from the University of Washington, an undergraduate degree in Psychology in 1964, and a graduate law degree in 1966.

Mr. Smith has memberships in the Washington State Bar Association, King County Bar Association and the Washington State Society of Healthcare Attorneys.

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About the particulars

Location: Ellensburg Inn (ask for the Cascadia Training group room rate: $70.00)
When: September 26th, 2008
Hours: 9:00am-4:30pm
Fee: $150.00 US
CEU info: 6 CEU's Cascadia Training is approved by the NASW, Washington State Chapter, to provide continuing education units to Licensed Social Workers, Mental Health Counselors and Marriage and Family Therapists. Certificates of Completion are awarded to attendees at the end of each workshop. Provider number #1975-118, and is an OSPI approved provider of in-service education. This is a "Washington State Approved Clock Hour Offering Workshop."