When Medical Board investigations take place, it can sometimes feel like they are examining you without you having any real idea of what they are keeping an eye out for. This leads to feeling overwhelmed and out of your depth.
It can help to understand what the Medical Board tends to investigate. This can give you time to prepare for what lies ahead, and understand exactly how the Board makes its decisions.
Patient complaints and criminal history
Washington Medical Commission looks into what happens after a complaint gets filed. The Medical Board will launch an investigation while looking at five categories in specific.
First are patient complaints. This often launches an investigation in the first place. They will look to see if you have a history of patient complaints and how severe those complaints are.
Criminal history is next. The Medical Board will investigate your past to dig up any prior convictions or criminal history you may have. If you hid these convictions, it may even lead to a loss of your license.
Drug use ties to the above somewhat. They will look to see if you have a history of drug abuse, and may also investigate the possibility that you are currently abusing drugs whether on the clock or in general.
Health and office policy
They then investigate your mental and physical health. This is largely to take stock of where you are in life and determine if any external factors may impact your ability to give care.
Finally, they will examine office procedures and policies. Do office policies exist to prevent you from taking the actions you did? Do any policies explicitly forbid actions you took? They will examine all of these points to get a full picture of any accusations levied against you and to understand the situation well.