A Physician Health Program for California
CPPPH Model Physician Health Program
CPPPH envisions a program of early intervention to protect patients and to maintain physician health.
In 2011, CPPPH published its vision for California's ideal Physician Health Program (PHP) - one that will support clinically-based health services for physicians with physical, mental health or addiction issues which, if undetected or not appropriately treated and monitored, could compromise the physician's ability to practice medicine safely.
A well designed PHP would include elements shown to be effective:
- Education throughout the medical community encouraging early intervention and referral
- Referral to appropriate qualified evaluation and/or treatment providers
- Comprehensive monitoring programs
- Confidential participation in the program while complying with all requirements
- Advocacy for physicians by documenting their health and wellbeing and compliance with monitoring requirements
Referrals into the program would be accepted from all sources. Eligibility for the program would be for persons with substance use, mental health disorders or physical illness when a clinical evaluation determines that the condition can be monitored and treated with the resources available to the program.
The program would have the resources necessary to carry out its responsibilities effectively and would include appropriate quality assurance activities. The administering entity and the program would be subject to periodic audit. The results of the audit would be reported to all funding sources, all program participants, the full medical community, an oversight body, and the legislature.
References:
- Guidelines for Physician Health Programs, 2020 Federation of State Physician Health Programs
- Guidelines for Hospital Medical Staff Committees on the Well-being of Physicians, 2022 California Medical Association
- Model Physician Health Program Act, March 2009 American Medical Association
- Public Policy Statement of the American Society of Addiction Medicine on Healthcare and Other Licensed Professionals with Addictive Illness, April 2011
The Medical Board of California'sPhysician Health and Wellness Program
Status 2023
As of February 2023, the Medical Board of California's proposed regulations have not been published by the Office of Administrative Law for a comment period.
Status 2022: California's MBC Physician Health and Wellness Program
Proposed regulations that will govern this new program were distributed with the agenda materials for the May 20 meeting of the Medical Board of California. You can see them on pages 32-46 of the attachment HERE.
The proposed regulations will be discussed at the Board's next quarterly meeting on August 25-26, 2022. Once this language is approved by the Board, the Department of Consumer Affairs, and the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency, it will be submitted to the Office of Administrative Law to be published with a 45-day comment period.
Who will run the program?
If no substantive adverse comments are received during the 45-day comment period, the MBC will put out a request for proposal for a vendor that will contract with the MBC to administer the program.
The vendor may engage contractors to staff the program and to provide the services of the program, and those contractors must meet the requirements specified in Section 1357.10 (i), (j), and (k) of the proposed regulations.
There is no estimated time or target date for when that RFP might be issued.
How much will it cost each participant?
After the vendor is chosen and a contract between the vendor and the MBC is in place, the MBC staff will draft regulations to set the fees for participants.
Status 2019
The 2019 issues of CPPPH eNews give the details of where things stand in the Fall of 2019.
(To read the July, August and September issues Click Here).
2016 Legislation
In September, Governor Jerry Brown signed SB1177 authorizing the Medical Board of California (MBC) to establish the Physician and Surgeon Health and Wellness Program "for the early identification of, and appropriate interventions to support a physician and surgeon in his or her rehabilitation from, substance abuse." (See a full copy of the legislation HERE.)
The law requires that the program comply with the 1441 Uniform Standards Regarding Substance-Abusing Healing Arts Licensees. (See the full text of the Uniform Standards HERE.)
The next step is for the MBC to prepare regulations, then issue a Request for Proposal seeking an entity to administer the program in line with the regulations.
On January 11, 2017, the Medical Board convened a meeting of interested parties to hear comments on what the Board plans to put in the regulations that will govern the new program. MBC staff distributed their notes showing what they plan to put into the regulations. HERE.
According to the schedule announced at that meeting, the Medical Board must complete three separate steps in order to open a program: 1) regulations adopted for operations of the program, 2) an RFP issued and an administering agency selected, 3) a second set of regulations adopted to set the fee that will be charged to each participant.