UPDATED POLICY – Ending Patient-Physician Relationship
At its June meeting Council approved an updated policy “Ending a Patient-Physician Relationship.” The updated policy includes a preamble, sets out the College’s expectations when a patient-physician relationship is ended, and outlines circumstances in which a physician must not discharge a patient. The CPSS recognizes that there may be exceptional circumstances and encourages physicians to contact the Registrar’s office for advice in those situations. The policy was assigned a five-year sunset review date.
UPDATED Guideline – Establishing the Patient-Physician Relationship
Also at the June meeting, Council approved an updated guideline “Establishing a Patient-Physician Relationship.” The updated guideline includes a preamble and sets out the College’s position with respect to communication during a patient encounter, the initial family physician office visit, emergencies, and also addresses the guideline’s relevance to specialists. The guideline was assigned a five-year sunset review date.
UPDATED Policy – Physicians Leaving Practice
The updated policy has been renamed from the former “Physicians/Surgeons Leaving Practice,” and sets out the mandatory requirements for all physicians leaving practice. It covers expectations relating to notification of patients and organizations, ensuring continuity of care and appropriate arrangements for medical records. In addition, the policy addresses expectations in the event of an emergency practice closure, or the sudden death or illness of a physician. The policy contains a link to the CPSS Guidance document “Leaving Practice: A Guide for Physicians and Surgeons” which contains valuable and practical resources to assist physicians with the transition to leaving practice. The policy was assigned a five-year sunset review date.
UPDATED Policy - Informed Consent and Determining Capacity to Consent
Council accepted amendments to this policy which had reached its sunset review date. The amendments included the addition of a preamble, an expansion of the definition of ‘capacity’ and inclusion of a definition of ‘consent’, and added criteria for consent and circumstances in which a physician may delegate the responsibility for obtaining informed consent. The document also included a redrafted section on translation and interpretation resources. The amended policy was assigned a five-year sunset review date.
UPDATED Policies - Opioid Agonist Therapy (OATP) Prescribing
At the June meeting, the Council accepted amendments to the six policies addressing the process to approve physicians to prescribe opioid agonist therapy (OAT). The amendments were intended to make the language gender neutral, to ensure consistency with the amendments made to the body of the Standards and Guidelines at the March 2022 meeting. These policies were assigned a five-year sunset review date.
UPDATED Standards and Guidelines - Opioid Agonist Therapy Standards and Guidelines for the Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder
At the June meeting, the Council accepted amendments to Appendix D of the Opioid Agonist Therapy Program Standards and Guidelines for the Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder in order to make the language gender neutral. Again, this was to ensure consistency with the amendments made to the body of the Standards and Guidelines at the March 2022 meeting.
UPDATED Policy - Sale of Products by Physicians
At the June meeting, the Council approved minor amendments to the “Sale of Products by Physicians” policy which had reached its sunset review date. The amendments included a clarification that while physicians may sell medically necessary or medically optional products (as defined in the policy), they must avoid selling products that do not fit within those definitions. The other primary amendment was to add hyperlinks to all referenced CPSS documents. The Council assigned a three-year sunset review date.
UPDATED Policy - Disclosure of Adverse Incidents
At the September 2022 meeting, the Council approved an updated comprehensive policy “Disclosure of Adverse Incidents.” The policy addresses disclosure obligations for physicians for harmful incidents, no-harm incidents, and near misses and includes examples for guidance. This policy is described more fully in the article “Disclosure of Adverse Incidents – New Policy”. The policy was assigned a three-year sunset review date.
UPDATED Guideline – Physicians and Public Health Emergencies
This guideline had reached its sunset review date. At the September 2022 meeting, the Council approved amendments to the guideline after considering feedback from physicians and other stakeholders who had responded to the request for consultation on the guideline that had been approved in principle at the June meeting. The amendments included a definition of and reference to “public” health emergencies, and the addition of the College’s strong encouragement of physicians who are limited from providing direct medical care to people in need during a public health emergency (such as due to personal health or the health of close family members) to engage in indirect activities that support the response during public health emergencies. The guideline was assigned a five-year sunset review date.
UPDATED Policy – Role of Council, Committees and Legal Counsel in Disciplinary Investigations and Court Matters[CG2]
This policy had reached its sunset review date. At the September meeting, the Council approved an updated policy that more clearly established the roles of the Registrar’s Office, the Council, the Executive Committee, CPSS legal counsel, and independent legal counsel retained on behalf of the Council or Executive Committee in the discipline processes of the College and court matters. The amendments included a section detailing the expectations of independent legal counsel. The policy was assigned a five-year sunset review date.
[CG1]Link to webpage to be added once page is ready
[CG2]Waiting for confirmation from Sheila/Bryan as to whether this should be "Committees" or "Executive Committee"