If you are a psychologist, psychiatrist, social worker, counselor, marriage and family therapist, community mental health services program, or inpatient or outpatient behavioral health service provider, you have obligations under Michigan’s Mental Health Code that go beyond the laws and regulations that apply to other healthcare providers.  Attorneys in Miller Johnson’s Mental Health Law Practice Group understand the complex legal and ethical framework imposed on mental health providers and the tension between the Mental Health Code and other areas of the law.

We work with licensed professionals and mental and behavioral health provider clients in connection with a wide range of issues, including:

• Interactions with law enforcement, including responding to requests for information, arrest warrants, and search warrants
• Analysis of confidentiality requirements imposed by HIPAA and the Michigan Mental Health Code
• Counseling on mandatory reporter obligations, such as the duty to warn, duty to report abuse of a recipient, vulnerable adult abuse, and reporting child abuse or child neglect
• Developing effective risk management strategies and formulating policies and procedures to ensure compliance with mandatory reporter obligations and minimize exposure to liability
• Telehealth / telemental health for mental health services
• Advising on civil commitment procedures and legal requirements
• Restraint and seclusion requirements under the Mental Health Code
• Representation in government / administrative investigations and other enforcement actions, such as False Claims Act, qui tam actions, reimbursement and contract disputes, licensing complaints and investigations, payor disputes, and other litigation matters
• Drafting physician and mental health professional employment contracts
• Assisting with data breach preparedness, responding to security breaches, and handling other cybersecurity issues
• Advising providers and participants in matters before Michigan’s mental health courts
• Referral of families, parents, minor children, and incapacitated individuals for establishment of guardianships and conservatorships to manage treatment and financial matters
• Mental health care financing and merger / divestiture transactions involving mental and behavioral health providers