A.  If you work in a larger clinic or healthcare system, talk with the Risk Management or Human Resources department. They should be able to tell you if you’re covered. (Most systems’ malpractice coverage extends to care given as a volunteer.)
If you work in a smaller practice, your insurance broker can check your coverage and let you know.

A. Yes. In most cases, the clinic or organization where you will volunteer can cover your work, either through their existing insurance program, or through the State of Minnesota’s Volunteer Health Care Providers program. Check with the clinic.

A:  Yes. Community clinics often see patients who require subspecialty care. Referral arrangements for volunteer specialists are needed for a variety of services. 

See Current Physician Volunteerism Opportunities

A. Like all clinics, there is a need for adequate coverage, but there can be flexibility. Some opportunities are during the workday, but many of the clinics need extra support during evenings to cover vacations and other activities. Clinics are happy to find times that match your volunteer availability with clinic needs.

A. If you are not currently credentialed, the staff at the volunteer site will work with you to obtain the credentialing you will need. It is assumed that if you are already credentialed by the state and health plans that you will be approved to provide care at one of the community clinics. It is mainly an issue for Medicaid payment at the clinics and not an issue when seeing the uninsured. All volunteers need to talk with the clinic management regarding the timing of the credentialing approval.
The credentialing process need not be complicated or lengthy, but it is important and a necessary step that requires collaboration by both clinic and volunteer.
 

A Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) is required to credential any providers serving its patients; even if the provider has been approved in a credentialing process through other providers or health plans. This isn’t a complicated process, but the volunteer will also have to go through a health plan contracting step. Assuming they already participate with the health plans, it’s likely that this process would be pretty easy, as we’d only be adding a location for the already-credentialed/contracted provider. (Thanks to Steven J. Knutson, executive director, Neighborhood HealthSource.)

A. Yes, it is essential that you understand how the clinic operates, the staff and their roles and how to use the medical record system. Clinics will provide a thorough orientation providing an overview of the clinic flow, staff responsibilities, the medical record system and other clinic systems prior to you seeing patients. Some volunteer sites can provide scribes. Check with the clinic.

A. The listings on this website include all volunteer opportunities of which MMAF has been made aware.

A. The Physician Volunteerism Program Advisory Panel, made up of active physician volunteers and clinic administrators, discussed non-compete clauses early in the development of PVP. None had ever heard of a physician being blocked from volunteering because of a non-compete clause. In fact, they agreed, most employers value employees who contribute to the community by volunteering, as it reflects well on the employer, too.

However, we recently became aware of one instance a few years ago when a non-compete clause was invoked to prevent a physician from volunteering. Generally, providing medical services in the physician’s specialty is the type of work that a non-compete is intended to prevent from happening, even if it’s done as a volunteer. So, we took the question to the MMA’s legal counsel for an opinion.

We did some research and found this:
There are no specific statutes or rules in Minnesota that address non-compete clauses.
Minnesota case law, from court judgements in lawsuits that address non-compete clauses, is also relatively thin regarding the use of non-competes to prevent volunteering. Of all non-compete cases, few actually go to trial, and none we are aware of has actually dealt with an employee providing services, much less health care services, on a volunteer basis.
That said, we recommend a common sense approach. Share your volunteer plans with your supervisor. If you think the non-compete clause in your contract might apply to your volunteer situation, check with the HR department, and tell them what you have in mind. If you are retired and are worried that your non-compete might apply to volunteering, it’s best to consult an attorney. Sometimes a former employer will be flexible if approached properly. Hopefully both former and current employers will applaud your community spirit!