Even though there are a million reasons that justify amending patient medical records, an innocent mistake when making a change can have dire consequences for your practice.

Why? Because failure to comply with medical record amendment rules can result in accusations of falsifying medical records, which is a crime. And if you are found guilty, the result can be severe fines, penalties, medical malpractice allegations, and even jail time.

The amount of time between a patient encounter and the date of the amendment is also a significant factor in managing your risk. As time passes, detailed memories of the patient visit can fade. This can make authorities question the accuracy of the amendment. And if you can’t prove you made the update ethically and compliantly, be prepared to face massive scrutiny.

Here are just a few of the practical medical record amendment strategies you’ll receive by attending this essential 60-minute training:

• Differentiate patient-requested record amendments from provider-required updates
• Discover how to keep all original information in place while adding new data
• Avoid added fines by identifying how to strike through outdated information rather than deleting it
• Take these practice-protecting steps to create internal amendment guidelines
• Identify best practices for pinpointing the “timeliness” of documentation
• Prevent issues by mastering signature guidelines for amendments
• Discover how to handle records that require major updates vs. those that only need a few words changed
• Institute policies around supplementing records rather than amending them
• Checklist identifies often missed amendment details that many practices overlook
• State vs. Federal requirements: Find out simple ways to comply
• Pin down exactly who needs to co-sign documentation when more than one provider is involved
• Stop violations for withholding patient records from patients who request them
• And so much more …

The risk related to amending patient charts has skyrocketed in the last year with the implementation and expansion of patient medical record access laws. You can now face dozens of medical record amendment requests directly from patients, particularly now that they more closely scrutinize their charts looking to challenge the smallest entry.

Even forgetting to cross out a word or include an amendment date can be enough to shut down your practice as you battle legal accusations. Don’t let your documentation amendments get your practice onto legal thin ice. Register for this online training to help you protect your practice when amending medical records.