Strengthening the Chain: A Continuing Medical Education Program for Test Results Follow-up.

Introduction: The Canadian Medical Protective Association (CMPA)'s Commitment to Change in Test-Results Follow-Up (CTC-TRFU) program aims to provide physicians with resources to enhance their test results follow-up systems for improved patient safety. Framed around the Transtheoretical Model, the program involves a 6-month multimodal educational intervention involving individual and group coaching sessions, action planning, and reflection surveys.

Methods: This study evaluates the CTC-TRFU program's impact by analyzing survey responses and course documents, focusing on three main outcomes: physicians' perceived barriers and challenges, changes in their confidence and commitment, and implemented practice changes with perceived impact on patient safety.

Assessing Adverse Outcomes and Learning Needs in Canadian Psychiatric Independent Medical Examinations.

Despite the importance of independent medical examinations (IMEs), there is virtually no literature on the risks to the IME assessor nor the learning needs of psychiatrists in this area. To address this deficit, a retrospective chart review of nearly 38,000 cases from the Canadian Medical Protective Association (CMPA) identified 108 files involving complaints or legal actions against psychiatrists performing IMEs. Most complaints identified by the CMPA were to regulatory bodies, including biased opinion, inadequate assessment, inappropriately relying on a requester's information without independent evaluation, nonadherence to regulatory body policies, cursory documentation lacking relevant details, and communication breakdowns.

Medico-legal risk of infectious disease physicians in Canada: A retrospective review.

Objective: There is little known about the medico-legal risk for infectious disease specialists in Canada. The objective of this study was to identify the causes of these medico-legal risks with the goal of improving patient safety and outcomes.

Methods: A 10-year retrospective analysis of Canadian Medical Protective Association (CMPA) closed medico-legal cases from 2012 to 2021 was performed.

Medico-legal cases associated with older physicians' cognitive ability to practice medicine.

Background: Dementia increases as individuals age. Aging physicians represent a growing population. Studies have demonstrated there are physicians with cognitive impairments practicing medicine.

Medico-legal issues related to emergency physicians' documentation in Canadian emergency departments.

Objectives: Physician documentation plays a central role in the delivery of safe patient care. It describes a physician's clinical decision-making and supports essential communication between healthcare providers within the patient's circle of care. Good documentation can potentially also decrease a physician's medico-legal risk.

Medico-legal risk and use of medical directives in the emergency department.

Purpose: The medico-legal risk associated with application of medical directives in the emergency department (ED) is unknown. The objective of this study was to describe and analyze factors associated with medico-legal risk in cases involving medical directives in the ED.

Methods: We conducted a descriptive analysis of closed medico-legal cases [hospital complaints, regulatory authority (i.