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Safeguarding Healthcare Practice: How Arkansas Medical Foundation Aids Professionals in Need

Healthcare professionals cannot effectively care for patients if they cannot care for themselves. In medical school and residency, up-and-coming healthcare workers learn to prioritize patient care. While this helps promote a patient-centered mindset, it’s also important to maintain your own health and well-being. Thankfully, there are programs designed to assist physicians who struggle to manage their own personal problems while offering high-quality care to their patients.

IN THIS BLOG:

1. What does the Arkansas Medical Foundation offer healthcare professionals?
AMF offers assistance to healthcare professionals struggling with substance misuse, boundary problems, cognitive issues, and other psychiatric or behavioral conditions that may limit their ability to practice. AMF's services are designed to ensure the safety of Arkansas healthcare and the treatment they provide to patients.

2. Who can benefit from the services AMF provides?
While initially only serving doctors, AMF has expanded its programs to include all healthcare workers. AMF is equipped to provide necessary assistance for a multitude of behavioral issues.

3. How does AMF protect healthcare professionals from disciplinary action?
The Arkansas Medical Practices Act enables AMF to offer confidential assistance without notifying the medical board, as long as healthcare professionals follow their care plan and can guarantee their fitness to practice.

4. What is the process for a healthcare professional to get help from AMF?
Those seeking help from AMF will undergo an independent evaluation, meet with the program director, and receive a comprehensive evaluation from a specialized facility. Following these assessments, a personalized care plan is developed, which may include additional treatment, therapy, support programs, and regular monitoring to ensure compliance and recovery.

The Arkansas Medical Foundation (AMF) is a physician health program designed to ensure the safety of Arkansas healthcare professionals and the treatment they provide to patients. While originally only serving doctors, AMF has since expanded its programs to all healthcare workers.

AMF offers assistance to healthcare professionals struggling with:

  • Substance misuse
  • Boundary problems, such as a physician having an intimate relationship with a patient
  • Cognitive problems, especially for older physicians in practice
  • Other psychiatric or behavioral conditions that may limit one’s ability to practice

AMF is under the leadership of medical director Dr. Brad Diner, who has been a psychiatrist for 35 years. Dr. Diner appeared on AFMC TV to discuss how AMF is creating safer treatment practices for Arkansans by focusing on the health and well-being of the physicians who treat them

“We want impaired healthcare professionals to allow us to help them find the treatment they need, certify their safety to practice, and undergo ongoing monitoring to ensure they are doing what they need to do to stay well and practice safely,” Dr. Diner said.

Reach Out to AMF Before the Board Gets Involved.

American Addiction Centers estimates that 10-15% of doctors will develop a problem with substance misuse at some point in their careers. While AMF only sees around 150 professionals, Dr. Diner estimates there are around 700 healthcare professionals in Arkansas who struggle with substance misuse.

The Arkansas Medical Practices Act enables AMF to provide confidential assistance to struggling healthcare professionals without notifying the medical board. As long as the provider follows the specifications of their care plan and AMF can guarantee their fitness to practice through ongoing monitoring and evaluation, that provider will not face disciplinary action with the board.

“A doctor who’s been monitored by AMF is significantly less likely to have a malpractice lawsuit than if they had never been monitored because they are under such scrutiny,” Dr. Diner said.

“Only about 50% of those who come to us for help do so voluntarily. The rest are sent to us through referrals by hospitals, physician partners, nurses, clinical staff, or even spouses.” Every hospital in Arkansas is required to have a physician health program. AMF fulfills this requirement. Unfortunately, some hospitals in rural Arkansas may hesitate to refer out of fear of losing a practicing physician.

“The liability of having an impaired doctor working in your hospital is much higher than having that doctor referred to us so they can get the help they need to practice responsibly,” Dr. Diner said.

AMF Develops a Personalized Care Plan for Each Professional.

When a professional agrees to get help, they undergo an independent evaluation and meet with the AMF program director, who makes initial recommendations and then requests a more comprehensive, full evaluation from a specialized physician evaluation and treatment facility outside of Arkansas.

These facilities perform multi-day assessments, including psychiatric, medical, and addiction evaluations, collateral interviews, and lab and neurological testing. They then provide AMF with a report of recommendations and a treatment plan for the professional to follow.

The treatment plan may require outpatient or inpatient treatment. “Three-month inpatient treatment is not unusual for a significantly impaired, alcohol-dependent physician, for example,” Dr. Diner said.

Once the individual has fulfilled the obligations of their treatment plan, AMF enters into a contract with them to monitor their practice. Standard contracts last 5 years and may include a variety of criteria:

  • Drug screenings
  • Individual therapy
  • Participation in a 12-step program, such as Alcoholics Anonymous
  • Other recommendations as necessary

“As long you follow our monitoring guidelines, and most people do, there is very little relapse, and the board never finds out,” Dr. Diner said. “Practice is only limited if your treatment plan recommends inpatient treatment.”

“At the end of their contract with us, physicians come to us and say that we helped protect their livelihood and saved their life. I hope impaired physicians will contact us if they need help. We’re available around the clock,” Dr. Diner said.

Healthcare professionals needing assistance with problems that impede their ability to practice responsibly should contact AMF to enroll in a specialized treatment program. The foundation does tremendous work that changes the trajectory of a healthcare professional’s life.

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