Additional Resources
Diabetes & Cardiovascular Disease Reference Guide Available
The CMA Foundation has announced their new "Diabetes and Cardiovascular Reference Guide" can now be viewed or downloaded from their website. This reference guide was developed in cooperation with expert panels of physicians and other healthcare providers to determine the most effective ways to prevent, assess and treat diabetes and related cardiovascular disease. Click here to access the guide.
Medical Board Requires "Notice to Consumers" Effective June 27, 2010; SBCMS and CMA Develop Resources to Help You Comply
Effective June 27, regulations adopted by the Medical Board of California (MBC) will require physicians to provide a "notice to consumers" informing patients that physicians are licensed by the MBC, and provide the MBC's contact information. The most offensive of the options for fulfilling this requirement would be to post a notice in 48 point Arial font stating that "Medical doctors are licensed and regulated by the Medical Board of California."
SBCMS and CMA believe these regulations are an unnecessary administrative burden and we have developed templates for less offensive ways for physicians to meet this requirement.
Resources for Complying
The new regulations require physicians to comply by one of three methods. The SBCMS and CMA have developed resources that comply with the regulations while highlighting your commitment to quality care and to your willingness to have your patients bring their concerns directly to you.
IMPORTANT: Practices only need to utilize one of these methods in order to comply; you do not need to utilize all three.
Written Statement
To comply using this option, the practice would include the notice in a written statement, signed and dated by the patient or patient's representative, and kept in that patient's file, stating the patient understands the physician is licensed and regulated by the board. The SBCMS and CMA have developed a "Commitment to Quality Notice" template that is compliant with the regulation, and encourages patients to bring their concerns directly to you.
Click here to download "Commitment to Quality Notice" template (Word 2003 format).
Adding the Notice to Existing Patient Materials
To comply using this option, the practice would include the notice in a statement on letterhead, new patient welcome packets, discharge instructions, or other document that is given to a patient or the patient's representative. This option allows the practice to incorporate the notice into existing patient materials rather than creating a new notice. However, in order to be compliant, the notice must be placed immediately above the patient's signature line in at least 14-point type. The notice must read as follows -"NOTICE TO CONSUMERS: Medical doctors are licensed and regulated by the Medical Board of California, (800) 633-2322, www.mbc.ca.gov."
Posting a Sign
To comply using this option, the practice would post a sign in an area that is conspicuous to patients. This could be either the waiting room or patient exam rooms. The sign must include the notice printed in at least 48-point Arial font. The SBCMS and CMA have developed a poster that highlights your commitment to quality and membership in the medical association/society and includes the required notice. Members may print the PDF poster on at least 11" x 14" paper in order to be compliant, or saved to a flashdrive which can be taken to your local printing/photocopy stores.
SBCMS/CMA members must sign in on this website to access the poster. Click here to download "Commitment to Quality Poster".
For physicians who do not object to posting only the required Notice to Consumers language in 48-point Arial font, the Medical Board has created a very basic sign which can be printed on 8.5" x 11 paper.
Click here to access the Medical Board's sign.
CMA Position
CMA has opposed the physician signage regulations since they were initially introduced by the MBC in 2009. CMA submitted written comments opposing the regulations and organized oral testimony from physicians at the public hearing held in July 2009. In its opposition, CMA made it clear that physicians are supportive of patient access to information about a physician's education, training and other qualifications, as demonstrated by our sponsorship of AB 853 (Hayashi) which would require a health care professional to disclose information in various health care settings to help patients understand who will be helping them with their health care, such as information about their license, education, and recognized board certification. However, we opposed this regulation primarily because of the following:
- The proposed regulations are unnecessary because state law already requires physicians to post their medical license or wear a nametag indicating their licensing status.
- Requiring physicians to educate patients about the Medical Board's functions could reduce the already limited amount of time that physicians have to care for their patients.
- Ensuring full compliance with the proposed regulations could be administratively difficult, particularly for physicians that practice in large groups or hospitals and have no control over signage in public areas.
- Failure to comply with the proposed regulations constitute a new and unnecessary cause of action for discipline against physicians, which could have the effect of clogging the Medical Board's already overburdened enforcement activities.
- Increasing signage in physician offices or requiring the distribution of more paperwork may serve only to confuse and overload patients with information.
Unfortunately, the Medical Board voted to proceed with the regulations, stating that the benefit to patient safety and education outweighed any burden on physicians.
