NATURE OF COMPLAINT:

Dr. McDonald is charged with unprofessional conduct, which include:

1. Frequently failed to document patient encounters, leaving her patients at risk of uninformed subsequent care for extensive periods of time.
2. Unresponsive to reminders of lacking documentation, which came from several sources, including, but not necessarily limited to, her staff, her Medicare compliance officer and the dialysis centers.
3. Subsequent to a request from the Department of Health Investigators for copies of patient charts, Dr. McDonald added notes for numerous previously undocumented patient encounters. The added notes were post-dated.
4. An inspection of thirty-three (33) office records revealed thirty (30) office visits billed that lacked documentation to support that patients were seen and examined by Dr. McDonald.

ACTION TAKEN:

Dr. McDonald’s license to practice medicine in the state of Washington is Suspended for Five (5) Years, however, Suspension is STAYED, subject to certain terms and conditions, which include:

1. Practice in a group setting.
2. Permit unannounced inspections of patient records
3. Following each patient encounter, Dr. McDonald shall dictate or handwrite a complete progress note for the patient’s chart on the day of the patient encounter.
4. Successfully complete a professional ethics course.
5. Pay a fine of $10,000.00