Avoid Board Certification Revocation
by Diane K. Shaw, JD
May 2019 Dallas Medical Journal 33
pecialty board certifications are being
revoked because of benign or standard
language in the Texas Medical Board
(TMB) consent order. The good news is
you can avoid this issue.
I recently attended a TMA meeting
in Austin to report on how we got a
specialty board to maintain/retain
S
specialty board certification after the specialty certification
was revoked because of the standard TMB consent
order with CME. We prepared a lawsuit to file against
the specialty board. All negotiations prior to that were
unsuccessful. A statement in their policy stated that any
restriction may result in revocation. There was a long
list of definitions for “restriction” including the word,
“condition.” The specialty board interpreted the word
“condition” to include CME.
The lawsuit included several charges, including, but not
limited to:
When I attended and spoke at the meeting, a physician
asked, “What can we do to prevent this without a filing a
lawsuit? Good Question!
Here are some suggestions:
1. If you are called upon to attend an Informal Settlement
Conference (ISC) at TMB and you have a specialty
certification, know the rules/policy of your specialty and
do not agree to sign the consent order if your certification
can be revoked.
2. Try to get written confirmation from your specialty
board that your certification will not be revoked if you
agree to sign an order.
a. There is time before an ISC, and after an ISC,
before you are asked to sign or agree to the language.
A consent order is a disciplinary process and requires
an administrative fee and CME. The use of a consent
order allows you and the TMB to resolve a disciplinary
proceeding without the time and expense required by a
formal administrative hearing.
b. You will have time to get the specialty board’s reply
before reaching an agreement.
c. Signing a consent order at TMB usually contains
language that signing the order is not an admission; it’s an
agreement to forgo cost of litigating the matter.
3. At the annual or bi-annual specialty board conference
try to push for an agenda item to discuss and clarify
languages in the rules/policy. Most of the language is
vague and/or does not have a due process procedure.
4. Petition the specialty board to shore up language and
have definitive rules with due process to be heard before
the it revokes privileges. Physicians work very long to
qualify for their specialty board, pay dues, etc. Therefore,
if this right is taken away, the physician should be aware
in advance of the specific risk of revocation and be given
language for a due process procedure.
5. This is not just a Texas issue, so there should be
national awareness of the problem to motivate the
specialty board to incorporate specific and fair language.
6. Consent order with standard TMB language,
administrative fees and CME should not be defined, under
any circumstances, as a restriction. However, if restriction
is defined so broad as to include a “condition” which can
be interpreted to include CME, this language needs to be
changed.
7. Write your congressman and/or submit a congressional
inquiry to deal with this on a state and federal level.
TMB issued a notice on its website and/or newsletter that
specialty boards can pull your certification if you sign an
agreed order. Many physicians are not aware of this and
have been taken by surprise from specialty boards over
the last two years. Be aware and get specialty boards to
promulgate fair rules. DMJ
Diane K. Shaw, JD with Shaw & Associates
is a longtime member of the Dallas County
Medical Society Circle of Friends. She has 30
years of trial experience focused on medical
malpractice defense, SOAH, compliance
with healthcare laws, healthcare fraud,
audits, qui tam and general civil litigation.
She maintains ad-litem certification and
completed advanced mediation education to
best serve as mediator in hundreds of cases.
● wrongful taking without due process,
● no appeal process being offered to the physician
after or before revocation,
● wrongful revocation of certification earned by
physician, causing damages to reputation and
privileges, as well as monetary loss.
● breach of contract.
Legal Issue