You may not love your electronic health record (EHR), but this evolving technology is so much more than a place to house patient information – it can help keep your patients safer. Here’s a great way to learn to use your system more effectively.

Register today to attend Reducing Diagnostic Error With Your EHR, a Dec. 6 seminar from 9 a.m. to noon at the Northern Illinois University Naperville Conference Center. The event is free but open only to ISMIE policyholders and their employed staff.

This event features two international experts discussing the relationship between diagnostic error and EHRs, including common configuration pitfalls and opportunities for improvement.

As you plan your safety efforts for 2019 and especially if you’re upgrading your EHR technology, this session is one you won’t want to miss.

For full details, register here.

And don’t forget, register today for Stress Management and Burnout Prevention for Health Care Professionals this FRIDAY, Nov. 30 at the Westin O’Hare in Rosemont.

Stay tuned to ISMIE News for the upcoming ISMIE risk management education events calendar for 2019!

ISMIE is known for some of the most extensive educational offerings in the medical liability industry with a very attractive benefit – up to 15% in premium savings.

But if you haven’t gotten to work on your Managing Risk coursework, the time is NOW. To determine the requirements you’ll need to qualify for your maximum discount, go to  www.ismiemutual.com.

Finally, check the scheduling information below to make sure you know our live support hours when crunch time arrives.

Here’s Your Year-End Managing Risk Help Guide

ISMIE’s offices will be closed after noon on Dec. 7, reopening at 8:30 a.m. CST Dec. 10, and then all day Monday and Tuesday, Dec. 24 and 25, reopening at 8:30 a.m. CST on Dec. 26th. 

ISMIE's offices will also be closed all day on Dec. 31, meaning no live assistance will be available on the last day to complete your coursework before the midnight CST deadline. 

The bottom line? Please plan ahead and consider completing your coursework a little early in case you need to reach your ISMIE support team. 

Here's our contact information:

Password/Web Assistance:

Call 888-476-7776 or  email us. After business hours, we offer password and login assistance  online.  

Questions for our Risk Management team:

Contact the risk management division at 800-782-4767 or by  email. 

On Nov. 14, the Illinois State Senate voted to reverse Governor Rauner’s veto of a bill that would have addressed long-delayed payments to Illinois physicians treating workers injured on the job. 

Senate Bill 904 now goes back to the Illinois House for further action. 

The state’s workers’ compensation insurers have been able to skirt current law on timely payment of workers’ compensation claims – a loophole that allows authorization of treatment yet keeps some doctors waiting for payment for up to three years. They’ve even been allowed to stick with slow, mistake- and delay-ridden paper billing for these critical claims. 

Our partners at the Illinois State Medical Society (ISMS) were key in keeping this bill alive and ready for continued debate. Governor Rauner had vetoed SB 904 in late August.

Even if you or your colleagues don’t treat workers’ compensation patients, this is an important issue for any physician expecting efficient payment systems required by law in the state of Illinois. 

Put it another way. If worker’s comp insurers are allowed to stick to antiquated payment practices, it’s only a matter of time before other payers consider the same liberties.

ISMIE News will keep you informed – if you’d like to learn more, click here, and if you’d like to get involved, here’s how to get started. 

As of Jan. 1, 2018, all prescribers holding a controlled substance license in the state of Illinois were required to register with the Illinois Prescription Monitoring Program (PMP). 

Once registered, every prescriber is required to attempt to access this electronic database tracking patients’ prescription histories before they can write an initial prescription for a Schedule II narcotic, such as an opioid, though some exceptions apply. Pharmacists and law enforcement also have access to the PMP.

As of July 23, more than 32,000 physicians were registered in the database, compared to less than half that amount at the end of 2015. According to PMP data collected between 2015-17, opioid prescriptions in Cook County alone fell 31 percent.

Again, if you are licensed to prescribe controlled substances in Illinois but have not registered with the PMP, the time to do it is NOW. Start here. Also, remember Illinois requires you attempt to access the PMP for initial opioid prescriptions. 

ISMIE Mutual Insurance Company will hold its next annual meeting in April 2019. At that time a majority of ISMIE policyholders, represented at the annual meeting in person or by proxy, will elect fellow policyholders to positions on the ISMIE Mutual Board of Directors. 

An ISMIE Mutual policyholder interested in being considered for the ISMIE Mutual board should immediately contact our Chief Operating Officer to be advised of the 2019 nomination criteria and deadlines. Call 312-580-2493 or 800-782-4767 ext. 2493, or send an email to ckoos@ismie.com. 

We were hoping the judge would shred this one.

Back in July, we told you about a Florida duo who sued McDonald’s for not giving them a price break on a Quarter Pounder with Cheese minus the cheese.

Clearly cheesed off, a Fort Lauderdale federal judge dismissed the suit a couple of weeks ago, saying the pair couldn’t prove that they were harmed by having to pay more for a plain Quarter Pounder as alleged. In fact, he called their effort to present a Quarter Pounder and a Quarter Pounder with Cheese as one “tied” product “absurd.” 

We find a lot of lawsuits absurd these days. But maybe it’s just the culture.