Wisconsin Medical Examining Board Newsletter

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May 2021

You are receiving this update as a licensee of the Wisconsin Medical Examining Board or as a subscriber to this communication.

Quick Links

• Board Landing Page
  • Meetings and Agendas
  • Statutes and Rules
  • Pending Rules
• ePDMP Quarterly Reports

Chair's Corner

By Sheldon Wasserman, M.D., Chairperson    As Chair of the Medical Examining Board, I see the profession of medicine unlike before when I first started serving on the board. As a physician, I see culpabilities by physicians through misjudgments due to imperfections, as well as opportunities to serve and protect patients under our care.    To prevent future negative outcomes, greater focus and attention is needed on the role of the teacher in medicine—as the attending staff to residents and fellows, as the residents training medical students and all settings of teaching that takes place in training at hospitals throughout the state of Wisconsin. Our role in teaching should be of great importance and the camaraderie that comes from working with nurses, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, ultrasound techs, x-ray techs, surgery techs and all other members of the healthcare team.    The Medical Examining Board, the regulatory body of medicine, calls upon the medical profession to supervise and set standards for this profession. One central tenet that differs from other professions is our ability and responsibility to protect our young and educate them. In all areas of education and training, it is our legal and moral responsibility to be a leader in assessing the ability of our trainees and to teach them so they may acquire the skills needed to be competent and compassionate providers to our patients. Providing the appropriate training for the next generation to adequately practice medicine for our fellow citizens for the future does not stop at the formal ending of residency or fellowship training but must continue when senior partners hire new graduates. Continual mentoring and teaching are essential to the practice of successful outcomes in the practice of medicine and our obligation to provide this to new colleagues.    Over the years, I have joked with many of my residents and medical students that I am a "mother hen" with wings out to protect them, and that my colleagues will do the same because our responsibility is to train them to have exemplary competencies. I occasionally have a first-year resident who says they are, “ready to fly out of the nest” and as an attending physician I have to slow them down and tell them, “you're not ready to fly yet.” I recognize the need to help them gain the skills to fly independently. The responsibility to teach and understand the limitations of our training physicians is a solemn journey and has potential implications on your license when it is not done properly. It is always better to be cautious and insure the proficiency of their skills. Protecting our patients when one of our trainees is not ready to fly but might need to observe and practice more before they're ready for that specific type of procedure is our job, and sometimes a difficult role to fulfill while necessary and essential to protect patients.    Inadequate training leads to mistakes that can have catastrophic results for both us and the patients we are honored to treat. The Medical Examining Board understands the specific needs and roles teachers and students have in determining judgment calls when things don't go well. We all make mistakes but our future, and the future of our profession, is dependent on you.  We thank you for all you do for the current and future generations!

Utilization of the WI ePDMP

By Drs. David Bryce, M.D. and Padmaja Doniparthi, M.D. and PDMP Staff

   Earlier this year the Controlled Substances Board (CSB) released the 2020 WI ePDMP Report which included trend analysis of controlled substance dispensing in Wisconsin. The state saw a 26% decrease in the total number of monitored drug prescriptions dispensed and a 38% decrease in the number of opioid prescriptions dispensed from 2015 to 2020. In addition, the report highlights a significant decline in the number of analytics-driven concerning patient history alerts that indicate a patient may be exhibiting drug seeking behaviors or be at increased risk for overdose. Analysis of these Q4 2020 data‑driven alerts compared to Q1 2017 shows a 51% decrease in the multiple prescribers or pharmacies alerts that might indicate drug-seeking behaviors, a 54% decrease in the daily high morphine milligram equivalents (MME) alerts, and a 34% decrease in the concurrent opioid-benzodiazepine alerts. Please review the full report at
https://dsps.wi.gov/Pages/BoardsCouncils/CSB/Reports.aspx.

   Critical information can be obtained from the ePDMP, which can significantly impact the plan of care for patients and aid in coordination of care. Patient History alerts in the ePDMP including data-driven alerts, prescriber-reported alerts, and law-enforcement submitted alerts are available for prescribers to review. All alerts are considered “restricted information”, visible to other healthcare users of the WI ePDMP but, not made available to non-healthcare users, such as law enforcement. Using the function “+ Add a Prescriber Alert” above the summary of Patient Alert on a patient report, prescribers may enter comments on a patient record in the WI ePDMP to inform other prescribers on updates regarding care for the patient. There are three types of Prescriber Reported Alerts: 1) Treatment Agreement Alert; 2) Violation of Treatment Agreement; and 3) Overdose Incident. Once added to a patient record, the prescriber can remove a Prescriber Led Alert if it is no longer applicable. The Prescriber Reported Alert functionality is available in the patient record both via EHR single sign-on integration and by accessing patient reports through the WI ePDMP website at https://pdmp.wi.gov/

   The integration of electronic health records (EHR) with the ePDMP has improved the ease of use. Currently more than 55% of ePDMP patient queries are performed by healthcare professionals via EHR interface. Integrated users have reported receiving ePDMP patient reports in their integrated EHR system in as few as four seconds, compared to minutes that users may spend logging in via the website portal and manually entering patient information in the ePDMP. Health care professionals can instruct delegates within their practice to access and document PDMP data to facilitate and coordinate patient care safely.

  Feedback from users of the WI ePDMP is valuable to the continued success of the program. DSPS is offering opportunities for users to provide feedback for future WI ePDMP enhancement through a brief survey that will be conducted in the spring.

Board Membership

The Medical Examining Board consists of 8 licensed doctors of medicine, 2 licensed doctors of osteopathy, and 3 public members. The Board's membership also includes the Chairperson of the Injured Patients and Families Compensation Fund Peer Review Council who serves as a nonvoting member of the Board.

Sheldon A. Wasserman, M.D., Chairperson - Physician Member
Clarence P. Chou, M.D., Vice Chairperson - Physician Member
Sumeet K. Goel, D.O., Secretary - Osteopathic Physician Member
Milton Bond, Jr., Public Member
David A. Bryce, M.D., Physician Member
Padmaja Doniparthi, M.D., Physician Member
Diane M. Gerlach, D.O., Physician Member
Carmen Lerma, Public Member
Michael A. Parish, M.D., Physician Member
David M. Roelke, M.D., Physician Member
Rachel E. Sattler, Public Member
Lemuel G. Yerby, III, M.D., Physician Member
Emily S. Yu, M.D., Physician Member

Information on how to apply for appointment to the Wisconsin Medical Examining Board, or other gubernatorial appointments, can be found through the Office of the Governor using this link: https://evers.wi.gov/Pages/Application_Process.aspx

Information About Administrative Rules

Pending Rule Changes

   Keep current with any pending rule changes affecting your profession by visiting the DSPS website to view the Pending Rules listing.

Administrative Rulemaking Process

   Please review the Rulemaking Process page of the DSPS website to learn more about the promulgation of Administrative Rules.

Duty to Report Convictions to the Board

   Physicians are required to provide certified copies of the criminal complaint and the judgement of conviction within 30 days of any conviction (felony or misdemeanor). Failure to report a conviction within 30 days is unprofessional conduct under Wis. Admin. Code § Med 10.03(3)(h). Board action, including discipline, may result for any conviction that is substantially related to the practice of medicine and surgery. Board action may also result from a failure to timely report any convictions as required.

Enforcement Actions of the Board

     The Medical Examining Board, in collaboration with staff at the Department of Safety and Professional Services, can take action against its licensees to help protect the profession and the citizens of Wisconsin. You may search for any of the Board Orders listed below on the Department’s website by using this link:

Board Order Search:

https://dsps.wi.gov/Pages/SelfService/OrdersDisciplinaryActions.aspx

Disciplinary options available to the Board

Disciplinary actions are reported to the National Practitioners Data Bank. Available options to the Board include:

Reprimand: A public warning of the licensee for a violation.

Limitation of License: Imposes conditions and requirements upon the licensee, imposes restrictions on the scope of practice, or both.

Suspension: Completely and absolutely withdraws and withholds for a period of time all rights, privileges and authority previously conferred by the credential.

Revocation: To completely and absolutely terminate the credential and all rights, privileges and authority previously conferred by the credential.

Non-disciplinary options available to the Board

Non-disciplinary actions are not reported to the National Practitioners Data Bank. Available options to the Board include:

Administrative Warning: Issued if violation is of a minor nature, a first occurrence and the warning will adequately protect the public. The issuance of an Administrative Warning is public information, however the reason for issuance is not.

Remedial Education Order: Issued when there is reason to believe that the deficiency can be corrected with remedial education, while sufficiently protecting the public.

Board Orders

January 2021-April 2021

CONTACT US

Email: dsps@wisconsin.gov  |  Phone: (608) 266-2112  |  Office Hours: 7:45 a.m.- 4:30 p.m.

The mission of the Department of Safety and Professional Services is to promote economic growth and stability while protecting the citizens of Wisconsin as designated by statute.