At one time or another, many medical care providers throughout Arizona will experience a formal review by the Arizona Medical Board. The process can have very serious consequences and may result in you losing your license to practice. If you are facing a professional review, then you should do everything in your power to protect your career and practice. Among the measures you can take is to enlist the guidance of an attorney who understands how to navigate the review process and fight for your future.
The review process is broken up into four stages. In the first stage, the board may review complaints against you from many sources, or possibly file its own complaint, if it believes that you may have violated the Medical Practice Act. The Board will determine whether or not the complaints fall within its jurisdiction, and if so, proceed to the recommendation stage after giving you the complaints filed against you.
If the claims are deemed substantial, then a Staff Investigational Review Committee (SIRC) will deliberate on a recommendation to the board as to whether or not discipline is appropriate in your case. If discipline is deemed appropriate in your case, then your case will move on to adjudication. In some cases, the SIRC may recommend your license be suspended or revoked. If this is the case, it will pass on to the Board for a final decision and disciplinary action. Once all the appropriate measures have been taken and the matter has been examined by several parties, the Board will discuss whether or not the recommendations warrant discipline and what, if any, discipline should occur.
There are many components to the process, and we have only briefly touched on the very basic of them. Clearly, your right to practice medicine is extremely important and should be considered with great sobriety. Do not hesitate to enlist the help of an experienced attorney to ensure that your career and rights remain protected.
Source: Arizona Medical Board, “Adjudication Process,” accessed March 16, 2017