Have you heard about California’s new license alert app for patients? Released by the state medical board, this app is designed to alert the public about any changes to a medical provider’s license to practice. This includes minor changes such as a name or address change, but it also alerts patients if a medical professional has been disciplined or targeted in a complaint.
As professional license defense attorneys, we realize that this app has the potential to cause licensed professionals at least a few problems. As we all know, technology can be a strong motivator when it comes to the important health care decisions people make every day. For example, patients receiving an alert from the app might perceive it as a warning about their doctor and choose to discontinue contact.
In a time when even just a rumor of wrongdoing can encourage patients to seek out a new provider, alerts from this app could lead to a serious decline in the practices of the state’s medical providers. We thought the release of the app was a good time to remind medical providers to seek immediate resolution of any license problems they are currently experiencing. Doing so could circumvent the potential for negative fallout an alert from the app might cause.
At this time, the app is only available to Apple users, but a press release issued by the Medical Board of California indicates that an Android version of its app “is forthcoming.” We encourage all of our readers to review our website to see how a professional license defense lawyer can help you overcome your licensing issues in as timely a manner as possible.
