BRIEFLY NOTED

Dr. James Grisolia Is Chosen As New Chief of Staff at Scripps Mercy Hospital

THE PHYSICIANS of Scripps Mercy Hospital’s San Diego and Chula Vista campuses have elected neurologist James Grisolia, MD, as their chief of staff. Dr. Grisolia took over as head of the 1,100-member physician team on Jan. 1.

As chief of staff for Scripps Mercy Hospital’s two campuses, Dr. Grisolia will serve as a medical staff liaison to administrative staffs at the two locations, as well as to Scripps Health’s board of trustees. During his twoyear term, he will play a key role in driving continuous improvement in the delivery of healthcare services to the more than 200,000 patients who visit the hospital’s two campuses annually. He succeeds the hospital’s outgoing chief of staff, Beverly Harrell-Bruder, MD.

“In addition to the exceptional care he delivers to our patients, Dr. Grisolia has demonstrated exemplary leadership as he enters his 40th year on the hospital’s medical staff,” says Tom Gammiere, Scripps Health’s corporate senior vice president and southern regional chief executive. “His guidance will benefit physicians, staff, and patients alike.”

Dr. Grisolia has been a member of the medical staff at Scripps Mercy Hospital San Diego since 1983 and has served on the medical staff at Scripps Mercy Chula Vista since 1986. Scripps Mercy’s San Diego and Chula Vista campuses previously operated as separate hospitals before merging in 2004 as one hospital and one medical staff on two campuses. Grisolia has been a member of CMA for 44 years.

Practice Management

The Doctors Company Offers Educational Video Series: ‘Financial and Workplace Well-Being for Doctors: Lessons for Life After Medical School’

THE DOCTORS COMPANY, THE nation’s largest physician-owned medical malpractice insurer and part of TDC Group, is offering a new lecture series, “Financial and Workplace Well-Being for Doctors: Lessons for Life After Medical School,” from Ronald H. Wender, MD, FACA, chairman emeritus and professor of anesthesiology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and member of The Doctors Company Board of Governors.

The 23-part video series is free and provides renowned experts’ advice about the realities of financial planning, medical malpractice, and hospital economics encountered upon graduating medical school.

The average medical school graduate owes $241,600 in total student loan debt — six times as much as the average college graduate.

In a study published last September, the International Journal of Medical Education found that medical residents and fellows have high debt and low levels of financial literacy. A California Medical Association survey in 2021 found that 64% of physicians expressed a need for financial assistance, and 95% of physician practices reported concern about their financial wellbeing.

“When you leave medical school, you need to be prepared for managing debt, finances, and patients who may sue you; we want medical providers to be ready for these harsh realities,” says Dr. Wender. “In my forty-six years of practice, I saw many healthcare providers overwhelmed with life challenges. I hope this will be a useful resource for new physicians in their future endeavors.”

Find all these insights at www.thedoctors.com/aftermedschool.

Updated Medical Board Notice to Patients Required Effective Now

AS OF JAN. 1, 2023, ALL PHYSICIANS LICENSED BY THE MEDICAL

Board of California must provide an updated “notice to consumers” that informs patients that physicians are licensed and regulated by the medical board, and provides details about how patients can check the status of a license or file a complaint.

Under the new regulation, the notice must be provided in a language understood by the patient or patient representative and include a quick response (QR) code that leads to the board’s Notice to Consumer webpage, and shall contain the following statement:

Notice To Patients

Medical doctors are licensed and regulated by the Medical Board of California. To check up on a license or to file a complaint go to www.mbc.ca.gov, email licensecheck@mbc.ca.gov, or call (800) 633-2322.

Physicians can comply with this requirement by doing one of the following:

1. Post a notice in an area visible to patients on the premises where the physician provides medical services;

2. Provide the patient with a notice and retain in that patient’s medical record an acknowledgement of receipt and understanding, signed and dated by the patient or the patient representative;

3. Include the notice in a statement on letterhead, discharge instructions or other document given to a patient or the patient representative.

The medical board has posted a notice template in the following languages: English, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Korean, Armenian, Farsi, Arabic, Russian, Japanese, Punjabi, and Khmer.

If the physician chooses to post a sign to comply with the notice requirement, and the sign is not in a language understood by the patient or their representative, then a notice must be provided under option 2 or 3 above in a language understood by the patient or patient representative, so long as the board has provided a translated notice understood by the patient or their representative on its Notice to Consumers webpage.

A physician will be deemed to be in compliance if the hospital, clinic, or other location where the physician is practicing posts the notice on its premises in an area visible to patients consistent with the requirements of the regulation. For more information, see the medical board’s Notice to Consumer webpage.