New Ohio Law Tightens Mandatory Reporting Following Dr. Strauss Report

Legislation signed by Ohio Governor Mike DeWine on December 20, 2024 will significantly expand mandatory reporting duties for professionals and facilities. These changes, and others from Ohio Substitute Senate Bill 109, not only impose new obligations to report, including the reporting of facility investigations, but also attach new penalties for failing to do so, which will impact Ohio physicians and health care facilities, including hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers.

These changes come at a time of greater public scrutiny concerning the State Medical Board of Ohio’s   (“Board”) handling of sexual misconduct cases,[1] and reflect implemented changes after the Closing Report from Governor DeWine’s Working Group on Reviewing of the Medical Board’s Handling of the Investigation Involving Richard Strauss[2] was issued.

Among other changes, the new law does the following:

1. Adds new obligation for facilities to report investigations of criminal conduct or sexual misconduct against Board licensees within 30 days of the beginning of the investigation;
2. Reduces facility disciplinary action reporting time under Ohio’s “mini-HCQIA” from 60 to 30 days;
3. Adds new obligation for mandatory reporting to the Board by individual licensees when they know or have reasonable cause to suspect that a fellow licensee has engaged in criminal conduct or sexual misconduct;
4. Adds new 30 day individual licensee self-reporting duty to disclose criminal charges, including DUI-related offenses (previously only reportable upon license renewal); and
5. Attaches criminal penalties to facilities and licensees for failing to make such reports.

This mandatory facility reporting of investigations, and mandatory licensee reporting as to criminal conduct or sexual misconduct, is new and different from existing law and reporting obligations. For facilities, including hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers, the change in this law is significant. In large part, the prior law mimicked  the federal law’s reporting obligations to the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB) under the Healthcare Quality Improvement Act of 1986 (“HCQIA”). The new law from Sub. S.B. 109 makes the facility reporting requirement in Ohio greater as they must now report investigations, even if no disciplinary action has been taken or whether the licensee is aware of the investigation. This is a significant difference from NPDB reporting under HCQIA where investigations themselves are not reportable. Moreover, the attachment of criminal penalties for failing to file a report further demonstrates that not only are the state law obligations greater, but so are the consequences of non-compliance.

As to licensee mandatory reporting obligations, while current and continuing law mandates the reporting of a “belief” of a violation of the Medical Practices Act (Ohio Revised Code Chapter 4731), the duty to report under Sub. S.B. 109 is more far reaching, as it includes conduct that is not presently reportable, and uses different terminology in detailing the standard to report that is broader than the current “belief” standard.

In addition, for the first time, Ohio law imposes “self-reporting” within 30 days of certain charges made against a licensed physician, including DUI-related charges. Other aspects of the new law enhance the Board’s ability to impose pre-hearing summary and automatic suspensions, Board operations and other measures that impact Ohio physicians who have been subject to discipline.

To learn more about the significant new legal obligations, consequences and impact on operations from this change in Ohio facility and professional reporting law, please contact your Dinsmore Health Care attorney.