Transfer of Patient Care

If you have patients under your care in a hospital or other health facility, you must transfer their care to another physician and document this change in their medical record. It is especially important to make detailed arrangements for alternate care and follow-up for patients who have undergone recent tests and investigations, to avoid missed or delayed diagnoses at some point in the future. Physicians have both a professional and legal duty to make all reasonable efforts to arrange appropriate transfer and follow-up care for those patients who require it.

Work in Progress (Investigations, Lab Tests and Consultations, etc.)

The CMPA has dealt with many cases where work in progress has fallen “through the cracks,” resulting in allegations of a delayed diagnosis or worse. The risk of this happening increases when a physician leaves a practice. If you are leaving a practice for any reason, you must have in place a system to ensure that all of your work in progress has been reviewed and appropriately acted upon.

If you are a primary care physician, consider sending a notice to those consultants to whom you most frequently refer patients, as well as to laboratories and X-ray facilities. If you can, either provide the name of another physician they can contact, or provide your forwarding address and instructions on where reports if you have not made alternate arrangements.

If you will no longer be available to follow patients, you should also notify cancer care agencies, as well as pharmacists, therapists and other health-care professionals with whom you regularly share patient care. Physicians should also notify, in writing, their licensing body, their paying agency, and the CMPA about any changes in their licensure or the nature of their practice.