LifeGuard Services

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LifeGuard Assessments®

Active Retired Physician Assessment

LifeGuard’s^® Active-Retired Physician Assessment Program provides physicians in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania a pathway for activation of an active-retired license. Through focused examination related to pharmacology knowledge, medical records documentation related to prescribing, and legal issues relevant to this license type, the physician can be comprehensively assessed with report findings submitted to the physician and the Pennsylvania State Board of Medicine.
Fitness for Duty

When a physician’s cognitive or physical health causes concern about patient safety, the issue is complex. It is difficult to approach a physician with concerns about their fitness to practice in their current environment without risk to patients, self, or others. The Fitness for Duty Assessment is an individualized, multi-disciplinary assessment of a physician’s fitness for occupational functioning.
Quality of Care

LifeGuard^® provides licensing boards and health care organizations with quality-of-care assessment services for physicians. The program uses several evidence-based assessment tools to measure clinical knowledge, decision-making and documentation skills. The goal of this program is to ensure that the physician is practicing safely, attaining the highest and most up-to-date standard of clinical excellence, and complying with state and federal regulatory requirements, when applicable.
Re-entry/Re-instatement

For a multitude of reasons, a physician may choose to leave the active practice of medicine. Illness, raising a family and caring for parents are just a few of the difficult life challenges that may require a physician to take an extended leave from clinical practice. Each state licensing board has different requirements regarding the time away from medicine that requires the completion of a re-entry program as a requirement for returning to the active practice of medicine.
The LifeGuard^® Re-entry /Re-instatement program provides a pathway for physicians who wish to re-enter the practice of medicine after an absence or for re-instatement of a license following a disciplinary action. We provide an unbiased, targeted assessment that can validate a physician’s clinical skills and readiness to re-enter the workforce. If deficiencies are identified, LifeGuard^® will provide a recommended path for remediation to address concerns in the most efficient manner possible.
Professionalism
The world of a physician is constantly changing, which can at times become a stressor that places a strain on the professionalism of a physician. Be it through evidence of specific behaviors or more global belief patterns, concerns with professionalism continue to emerge.
We provide an unbiased assessment including:
- Physician interview and/or testing with one or more of our certified physicians
- Various assessment tools to assist in identification of personal and professional strengths, including those that need strengthening
- Meeting with Certified Gallup Clifton Strengths Coach
- Use of tools to identify aspects of healthcare burnout
- Interviews conducted with colleagues and coworkers of the physician
LifeGuard^® will provide recommendations and suggest further evaluation as necessary in order to allow the physician to function at their highest level of skill for many years to come.
PA/C Physician Assistant Certified *NEW!*

Illness, raising a family and caring for parents are just a few of the life challenges that may require a physician assistant to take an extended leave from clinical practice. LifeGuard^® provides physician assistants with a pathway to re-enter the practice of medicine after an absence or for reinstatement of a license following disciplinary actions. Numerous assessment tools are utilized to ensure a comprehensive evaluation of the physician assistant referred relevant to licensure actions. LifeGuard^® will provide recommendations for educational remediation when applicable.

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LifeGuard Pathways®

General

A nationally recognized program, LifeGuard^® has been a vanguard for addressing clinical competency assessment needs for physicians. Conceptualized by physician for physicians; LifeGuard^® provides comprehensive assessment services and recommendations for remediation tailored to the individual needs of physicians.
Through customized evaluation programs, we aim to facilitate higher performing physicians, promote patient safety, and enhance the quality of medical care provided to ensure complete clinical competence. Faculty at LifeGuard^® are all actively practice specialty physicians as well as other provider types, when applicable.
ATM Program
LifeGuard^®’s ATM Program combines Assessment, Training and Monitoring to evaluate a provider’s knowledge of prescribing opioids/controlled substances and buprenorphine, as well as appropriate treatment decisions and documentation. Infection control practices are also included in the ATM program suite of services.
- The assessment is conducted utilizing a number of tools, including but not limited to knowledge testing, practice policy/procedure review, and record review/recall.
- Training is provided based on any deficits discovered during the evaluation of the provider’s performance in the assessment portion. Training modules can include additional literature review provided by LifeGuard^®; recommended revisions to, clarifications of, or further developing the provider’s practice policies and procedures; and one-on-one education.
- Following the assessment and training phases, monitoring is conducted of the provider’s practice related to opioids and controlled substance prescribing, and the care and treatment of patients with chronic pain. Monitoring is completed using an established criteria based on current state guidelines and other regulatory/statutory requirements, as well as the provider’s practice policies. The monitoring focuses on the provider’s ability to demonstrate compliance with their own policies and procedures, state and federal guidelines/regulations, best practices with regard to care and treatment, and documentation.
Practice Monitoring

The primary areas of focus for our practice monitoring program includes assessment of the physician’s adherence to standards of care and treatment generally related to prescribing of opioids for acute and chronic pain management, buprenorphine for addiction medicine, other controlled substances and infection control protocol and practices. Key components include: a comprehensive evaluation of current clinical and medical record documentation practices, detailed recommendations for improvement, and ongoing monitoring to ensure successful implementation of recommended changes or adherence to quality-of-care standards.
Each member of the monitoring team is carefully selected to ensure alignment of their expertise with the needs of the physician being monitored. In preparation for practice monitoring, our team of evaluators will request documentation and conduct on-site observations at the practice when appropriate. LifeGuard^® team members will review all documentation provided and assess care and treatment based not only on the physician’s policies and procedures, but also alignment with recognized standards of care and treatment. Assessments and plans for remediation are completed in person or virtual remote reviews, followed by supportive clinical strategies, protocols and practices that can be integrated moving forward. Specific recommendations can include enhancement in medical record processes, participation in tailored medical education (CME) and mentoring.
Return To Board Eligibility Program (ABEM)

LifeGuard^® has developed a 6-month program to assist emergency medicine physicians with a pathway to return to board eligibility with the American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM). The program has been approved by the American Board of Emergency Medicine. The assessment phase will provide LifeGuard^® team members with an understanding of any medical knowledge deficits and/or gaps through use of several assessment tools. A Gallop Clifton Strengths Assessment will be administered with follow-up sessions throughout the 6-month period to facilitate the identification of the physician’s strengths using their talents most effectively to achieve their exam goals. Individual learning activities conducted through the program are focused on current emergency medicine topics as well as activities relevant to information gathered about the physician during the assessment phase. Finally, the clinical practice phase entails the oversight of the physician during their clinical practice by a board-certified emergency medicine physician at the physician’s practice location. A final report regarding the physician’s performance related to established goals is provided to the physician and ABEM.
Preceptorship Monitoring

Physician preceptorship is key to providing a clinical experience that allows the participant a supervised reentry into medical practice. The preceptor is an integral part of the program--providing invaluable expertise, supervision, and evaluation of the participant.
LifeGuard^® allows the physician participant to complete a preceptorship which includes assessment of medical knowledge; interpersonal and communication skills; clinical skills; professionalism; practice-based learning and improvement of medical care delivery; legal management and responsibility; and personal growth and development as a life-long learner.
Preceptorship length is determined by a number of factors including future practice intent, length of time out of practice, previous experience and years in practice, and ongoing education (i.e. CME history).
Oversight of LifeGuard® Remediation Plan

Competent doctors, operating efficiently within teams, are critical to the provision of high-quality and safe care for patients. When deficits go undetected or unaddressed, physician performance and patient safety can be jeopardized. For instance, performance problems in the domains of knowledge and professionalism have been linked to subsequent disciplinary action by state medical boards.
Remediation is an intervention, or suite of interventions, required in response to assessment against healthcare standards with the aim of remedying underperformance so the doctor can return to safe practice. As a part of each assessment, LifeGuard^® issues a comprehensive report. If remediation is needed,LifeGuard^® is able to provide oversight and ensure appropriate completion of the recommended remediation plan, as developed by the LifeGuard^® team.