On July 31, the Ohio Academy of Family Physicians nominated its advocacy efforts in securing passage of House Bill (HB) 145, legislation that ensures physicians can seek confidential treatment for drug, alcohol, or other substance abuse, if certain specified conditions are met, for consideration for a 2018 American Academy of Family Physicians Leadership in State Government Advocacy Award.
This has been over a four year battle for the Academy, one that started when the State Medical Board of Ohio (SMBO) decided it would eliminate confidential self-reporting by physicians to seek treatment for drug, alcohol, or other substance abuse. The Academy’s position from the start was that physicians with a drug, alcohol, or other substance abuse problem need to receive treatment as soon as possible for their own sake but also for the sake of their patients. We felt strongly, and evidence backs us up, that lack of confidentiality and fear of disciplinary action from state medical boards, delay the physician who needs treatment from seeking it.
A recent Mayo Clinic study showed nearly 40% of physicians reported they would be reluctant to seek formal medical care for treatment of a mental health condition because of concern about repercussions to their medical licensure. With 400 physicians dying from suicide every year, we need to stop discouraging physicians from seeking needed treatment. Given the prevalence of physician burnout in today’s world, it has never been more important for physicians to properly care for their mental, emotional, and physical health. It is long overdue that the SMBO and other state medical boards across the country view programs that provide confidential treatment as help for physicians who need it rather than as discipline for bad behavior or a moral failing.
Because of the OAFP’s leadership, a group made up of physician organizations, treatment providers, the Ohio Physicians Health Program, attorneys who represent physicians before the SMBO, state legislators and even a former Ohio Supreme Court Justice, began meeting regularly at the OAFP office to plan the strategy to fight back against the actions of what has become, in recent years, an extremely hostile SMBO. HB 145 was enacted into law on January 24, 2018.
At the OAFP annual meeting in August, we will be honoring State Representative Cheryl Grossman for her leadership and steadfast commitment on this issue by presenting her with the 2018 OAFP Friend of Family Medicine Award.