Page 27 - Del-Medical-Journal-June-2015-Final.indd

HEALTH & LAW
Physicians Can
Fire
Patients,
Too!
Jeremy A. Wale, JD
The physician-patient relationship is created by mutual agreement between the physician and the patient. As such, the physician may terminate the relationship for any non-discriminatory reason. Valid reasons may include, but are not limited to, non-compliance with medical advice, combative or threatening behavior, or
outstanding medical bills.
Patient non-compliance is one of the most common reasons for terminating the physician-patient relationship. Patients who routinely miss or cancel appointments or refuse to heed medical advice may be considered non-compliant.
Non-compliant patients might be your practice’s biggest liability risk. Patients are less likely to get better when they don’t comply with medical advice, placing themselves at higher risk for adverse outcomes. By properly terminating non-compliant patients, you may help reduce your risk of malpractice claims. It also is appropriate for practices to terminate hostile, aggressive, or verbally abusive patients.
Proper termination is important to help avoid a claim of patient

from state to state, the following elements typically exist in a patient abandonment claim:
■ Termination of a professional relationship between the physician and patient without good reason or at an unreasonable time;
Del Med J
| June 2015
| Vol. 87
| No. 6
187