REMINDER: Medical Board "Notice to Consumers" Regulation in Effect
Effective June 27th, California physicians are now required to provide a "Notice to Consumers" to notify patients that they are licensed and regulated by the Medical Board of California (MBC), and to provide patients with the board’s contact information.  According to the MBC, physicians, not facilities, are responsible for compliance with this regulation. The MBC has outlined three different options for physicians to comply with the regulations, the most offensive of which is to post a notice in 48 point Arial font stating that "Medical doctors are licensed and regulated by the Medical Board of California".  The other options include obtaining a signed notice from patients or including the notice in existing practice notices. 

The ACCMA and CMA believes these regulations are an unnecessary administrative burden, as state law already requires physicians to post their medical license or wear a name tag indicating their licensing status. We believe that it would be more useful to provide patients with specific information about the education and training of their physicians. To that end, CMA is cosponsoring a “truth in advertising” bill along with the California Society of Plastic Surgeons. Our bill would require that all health care practitioners – not only physicians – display their educational degree, license type and status, and board certification either on their name tag or in their offices.

Resources for Complying

The new regulations require physicians to comply by one of three methods. The ACCMA and CMA have developed resources that comply with the regulations while highlighting your commitment to quality care and to your willingness to have your patients bring their concerns directly to you.

IMPORTANT: Practices only need to utilize one of these methods in order to comply; you do not need to utilize all three.

Written Statement
To comply using this option, the practice would include the notice in a written statement, signed and dated by the patient or patient's representative, and kept in that patient's file, stating the patient understands the physician is licensed and regulated by the board. The ACCMA and CMA have developed a "Commitment to Quality Notice" template that is compliant with the regulation, and encourages patients to bring their concerns directly to you or to the ACCMA's peer-review mediation committees.

Click hereto download "Commitment to Quality Notice" template notice.

Adding the Notice to Existing Patient Materials
To comply using this option, the practice would include the notice in a statement on letterhead, new patient welcome packets, discharge instructions, or other document that is given to a patient or the patient's representative.  This option allows the practice to incorporate the notice into existing patient materials rather than creating a new notice. However, in order to be compliant, the notice must be placed immediately above the patient's signature line in at least 14-point type. The notice must read as follows: "NOTICE TO CONSUMERS: Medical doctors are licensed and regulated by the Medical Board of California, (800) 633-2322, www.mbc.ca.gov."

Posting a Sign
To comply using this option, the practice would post a sign in an area that is conspicuous to patients.  This could be either the waiting room or patient exam rooms. The sign must include the notice printed in at least 48-point Arial font. The ACCMA and CMA have developed a poster that highlights your commitment to quality and membership in the medical association and includes the required notice.  Upon request, the ACCMA will create a poster listing the ACCMA/CMA members from your practice and their specialties. The posters will be sent via email as a PDF document. The practice will then need to print the PDF poster on at least 11" x 14" paper in order to be compliant, which can be done at local printing/photocopy stores.  Should you add physicians to your practice in the future, the ACCMA will provide you with an updated PDF poster.

Click hereto view a sample "Commitment to Quality Poster"
Click hereto download the "Commitment to Quality Poster" Request Form
(complete and fax to the ACCMA at 510-654-8959)   
 
For physicians who do not object to posting only the required Notice to Consumers language in 48-point Arial font, the Medical Board has created a very basic sign which can be printed on 8.5" x 11" paper.  Click here to access the Medical Board's sign.