Behavioral health practitioners face complex documentation decisions that can have truly profound consequences. When should you be vague in your clinical notes considering who might review your records down the road? When would such vagueness be ill advised? Who should have access to your clinical notes? How should you respond to a subpoena of your records when clients do not consent to disclosure? What federal laws govern clients’ access to electronic records?

Substandard documentation can harm clients and expose practitioners to the risk of ethics complaints and litigation. Skilled documentation can enhance the quality of care and prevent adverse outcomes if practitioners are named as defendants in lawsuits or respondents in licensing board complaints. The reality is that the quality of practitioners' documentation often determines the outcome of these legal proceedings. This webinar will include a succinct overview of complex documentation challenges in the behavioral health professions. Dr. Frederic Reamer will highlight key decisions practitioners make regarding the purposes, content, wording, storage, and disclosure of documentation. Case examples and risk management protocols will be included.

Learning Objectives:

1. Identify the diverse purposes of documentation.

2. Address documentation challenges related to client privacy, confidentiality, and privileged communication.

3. Identify the implications of skilled documentation for risk management in behavioral health.

4. Implement ethics-informed documentation strategies to protect clients and prevent lawsuits and licensing board complaints.

This webinar is also offered without CEs for half-price.

Register for the 0 CE Live Event for $98.50

February 28, 2025 10 am-5 pm EST

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Frederic Reamer is professor emeritus in the graduate program, School of Social Work, Rhode Island College, where he has been on the faculty since 1983. His teaching and research focus on professional ethics, criminal justice, mental health, health care, and public policy. Dr. Reamer received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago and has served as a social worker in correctional and mental health settings. He chaired the national task force that wrote the Code of Ethics adopted by the National Association of Social Workers in 1996 and served on the code revision task force. Dr. Reamer also chaired the national task force sponsored by the National Association of Social Workers, Association of Social Work Boards, Council on Social Work Education, and Clinical Social Work Association that developed technology standards for the profession. Dr. Reamer has lectured nationally and internationally on social work and professional ethics, including in India, China, Singapore, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and in various European nations. His books include Risk Management in the Behavioral Health Professions; Social Work Values and Ethics; Risk Management in Social Work; The Social Work Ethics Casebook; Ethical Standards in Social Work; Boundary Issues and Dual Relationships in the Human Services; Ethics and Risk Management in Online and Distance Behavioral Health; Moral Distress and Injury in Human Services; and The Social Work Ethics Audit, among others. Dr. Reamer has served as an expert witness in many court and licensing board cases throughout the United States.

Read more about Dr. Reamer here.