Policy AD-140 Deposition Testimony by Providers in Third-Party Cases 2021-06-14

Purpose

This policy describes the terms and conditions under which healthcare providers employed by Westside Family Healthcare will give testimony as a fact and/or expert witness regarding Westside patients at depositions in which Westside is not a party to the litigation.

Policy

When a third party seeks the fact and/or expert testimony of a healthcare provider employed by Westside regarding a Westside patient in connection with a civil legal proceeding in which Westside is not involved as a party to the litigation, the party seeking such testimony must pay Westside a non- refundable fee in advance of the testimony in accordance with a fee schedule set by Westside and must comply with the other requirements described in this policy.

Scope

This policy applies to all Westside providers, including but not limited to physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses, dentists and dental hygienists.

Definitions

Procedures

Third parties who wish to obtain the testimony in a civil proceeding of a Westside provider as a fact and/or expert witness regarding a Westside patient must supply to Westside a HIPAA-compliant authorization signed by the patient that specifically authorizes the provider to testify in connection with the particular legal proceeding in question.

The Westside Provider Relations Manager (PMR) will prepare an invoice for the amount of the provider’s time being sought by the third party and transmit it to the attorney(s) for the third party.

After a check for the payment has been received and deposited and the payment has cleared, the PRM will coordinate the schedule of the provider with that of the attorney requesting the testimony. The PRM will advise the attorney’s office that a copy of the deposition notice must be provided to the PRM. The PRM will provide a copy of the deposition notice to the provider and the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) when it is received.

Depositions will be scheduled at a time convenient to the provider, preferably during the last hour(s) of a patient session, at the provider’s work location.

Providers will not be paid any additional compensation for time spent at a deposition that is scheduled during the provider’s usual patient care hours. Providers will be paid at the Extra Pay for Additional Hours (EPAH) rate for any deposition that does not conflict with the provider’s normal patient care schedule.

If a provider will be giving a deposition during a time when the provider would ordinarily be seeing patients, the PRM will notify the Scheduling Manager to block the provider’s schedule for that time.

The rate charged to attorneys for providers’ deposition testimony is $500.00 per hour, to cover the loss of revenue when the provider’s schedule is blocked.

The requesting attorney must submit payment for the anticipated amount of time that will be needed for the testimony in advance of scheduling the provider’s time.

Payments are not refundable unless the provider becomes unable to attend due to illness or other exigent circumstances or the requesting attorney cancels the deposition at least two weeks in advance.

To minimize interference with patient access to the provider’s services, the provider will not testify past the end of the time period specified by the requesting attorney. If an attorney needs more time, the attorney must contact the PRM to set up and pay for additional time in advance in accordance with the process described above.

References