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Recent developments have made professional licensure a more pressing
concern for New York health care providers as in recent years,
legislation has streamlined the disciplinary process and the Office
of Professional Medical Conduct has received an increased budget
with which it hired approximately 100 new staff, resulting in an
estimated 77% increase in the total number of disciplinary actions
taken. Since licensure is a mark that a health care provider has
met stringent standards to ensure public health, safety, and welfare,
it is of utmost importance for a health care provider to possess
a license, and it is with this understanding that the attorneys
at Hoffman Polland & Furman PLLC take up professional licensure
cases.
The Firm regularly represents health care professionals in license, application,
revocation and sanction investigations and hearings including before the NYS
Office of Professional Medical Conduct, and Department of Education's professional
licensing divisions. The Firm has a long record of successes in these proceedings
and prides itself on being able to anticipate events to resolve these matters
at the lowest possible stage of prosecution, particularly through our physician
attorneys.
In both the Investigative and the Hearing stages, the Firm regularly defends
allegations involving substance abuse, recordkeeping violations, fee-splitting,
fraud, and gross negligence on the part of physicians, physician assistants,
dentists, podiatrists, chiropractors, technicians and other licensed health-care
professionals, brought by the respective prosecutorial arms of the Health Department
(Office of Professional Medical Conduct (“OPMC”)) or the Education
Department (Office of Professional Discipline (“OPD”)).
In the OPMC area, a primary issue at the Investigative stage is the
assurance of compliance with the procedural dictates of the relevant
statute, Public Health Law Section 230, in order to maximize the
statutory opportunity for a provider to be heard. This frequently
involves extensive preparation for the requisite OPMC interview,
including the study of all relevant medical documentation by our
physician attorneys regarding the issue, and, when appropriate, the
retention of qualified medical experts for the submission to avoid
the interposition of disciplinary charges.
The professional licensure department at Hoffman Polland & Furman
PLLC provides representation on a broad spectrum of licensure issues,
including:
- License application and revocation
- Investigations and hearings by licensure boards, including
the New York State Office of Professional Medical Conduct and
the Department of Education professional licensing divisions
- Defense of licensure complaints
- Impaired and recovering physicians and other health care practitioners
We have also had excellent results at the Hearing stage, including
frequent dismissals of charges. Our trial attorneys employ
every facet of the defense to minimize or even eliminate any adjudication
of disciplinary charges, and to relieve the provider of their impact.
In addition to conducting such hearings, we have also defended
our dispositions at appeals brought by OPMC to the statutorily-created
Administrative Review Board.
Finally, our attorneys have had extensive experience in bringing,
when appropriate or necessary, judicial proceedings in accordance
with Article 78 of the Civil Practice Law and Rules, seeking both
review of the State’s professional misconduct action and
a permanent stay of enforcement thereof. In several instances,
we have been successful in persuading OPMC to withdraw their proposed
action, or in arranging for an alternative disposition which is
professionally acceptable to our client.
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