OFFERED BY MLMIC INSURANCE COMPANY

Wed., Nov. 6, 2024
2:30pm – 5:30pm (3 CE hrs)
Room TBD 
Speakers: Frederick Wetzel, DDS, Brenna C. Gubala, Esq., and Elizabeth Ollinick, Esq.

Recommended for: Dentists

This course was developed by dentists, attorneys and risk managers with extensive experience in the fields of dental malpractice and patient safety in accordance with New York State laws and regulations. New York State dentists who complete this course will be entitled to a 10% discount on their liability premiums for a three-year period from MLMIC Insurance Company. If you have not completed an approved Risk Management Program within the past three (3) years, it is necessary for you to take this course to continue to receive your discount. At the end of this course, you will receive a certificate of completion to submit to your malpractice carrier. Registrants who complete this course will be entitled to three (3) continuing education credits. NYSDA members will automatically receive three (3) lecture credits with the NYSDA Continuing Education Registry. This course will not only cover the core components of risk management such as documentation, informed consent and privacy but it will also address trending topics such as social media in dentistry, common allegations seen in dental malpractice claims and will present analytics regarding the state of dental malpractice. Do you know the risks involved with advertising and social media? Join Dr. Fred Wetzel, Brenna Gubala, Esq. and Elizabeth Ollinick, Esq. to find out!

Upon completion of this program, participants will be able to:

• Identify the common allegations and claims that are seen in dental malpractice.
• Understand how New York’s statutes of limitations and tolls impact the potential for a malpractice claim.
• Identify the various steps of the legal process and the dentist’s role in each step.
• Review top traits of claims free dentists.
• Recognize the importance of a patient record in the defense of a malpractice case.
• Analyze the positive and negative aspects of social media in dentistry.
• Describe the appropriate use of social media in marketing.
• Formulate approaches to address negative patient reviews posted online.
• Identify the liability risks that can arise in routine patient care.
• Understand the role of effective informed consent in reducing the incidence of malpractice claims.
• Implement strategies to reduce the risk of patient injury and the potential for malpractice claims.

Frederick W. Wetzel, DDS has a significant background in dental liability insurance and service to his profession. He is a former Director and currently serves as a consultant for MLMIC. Since 1992, Dr. Wetzel has been a risk management presenter, lecturing in New York and nationally. He currently serves as the Dental Section Chair of the Medical Professional Liability Association (MPL).

Fred has held numerous positions at the local, state, and national level in organized dentistry. He is a former Governor and Trustee of the New York State Dental Association. Dr. Wetzel has extensive experience in finance, budget and audit matters.

He is a general dentist practicing for the past thirty-seven years in Schenectady, New York. Dr. Wetzel is a graduate of Union College and New York University College of Dentistry. He is the President of the Niskayuna Community Foundation. His interests outside dentistry are aviation, autos and spending free time at his home on Saratoga Lake. Fred and his wife Shannon are the proud parents of five children and proud grandparents of five grandchildren.

Brenna C. Gubala, Esq. is an Attorney with the MLMIC Legal Department and the May-Skinner Law Group, an inhouse law firm specializing in the representation of healthcare providers and facilities. Brenna has been named a Super Lawyer Rising Star in civil litigation since 2018. Her practice focuses on litigation representing physicians, dentists, healthcare professionals, and hospitals in the defense of malpractice and strict products liability actions. Brenna is experienced in handling litigation from pre-claim status through trial, as well as post-trial and appeal. She works closely with physicians to effectively represent their interests. Brenna also provides counsel to healthcare practitioners and medical facilities on risk management issues. She has authored numerous articles about topics in strict products liability and premises liability in national publications.

Prior to joining MLMIC, Brenna worked in general and commercial litigation for ten years handling a variety of cases from pre-suit through trial and post-trial motions and appeals, including professional liability, premises liability, municipal liability, construction site law, auto defense, and products liability in complex litigation matters. She has extensive experience in resolving cases through alternative resolution, including mediation and arbitration.

Brenna is active in the community. She is a board member of the Women Lawyers of Western New York, whose mission is to promote, network, and assist female practitioners from law students to judges. She is a member of the Erie County Bar Association and has authored and presented continuing education programs on municipal liability.

Brenna graduated from New York Law School, magna cum laude, where she was an editor of the Law Review and member of the Institute of Information Law and Policy. She was awarded a Public Service Award for outstanding legal service. Prior to law school, she obtained her Master’s degree in contemporary Latin American Art History at the University of New Mexico, summa cum laude, and worked in a contemporary art gallery in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts degree, cum laude.

Elizabeth Ollinick, Esq. is an Attorney with the MLMIC Legal Department and the May-Skinner Law Group, an inhouse law firm specializing in the representation of healthcare providers and facilities. She practices in the fields of professional medical and dental liability defense and healthcare law. Elizabeth has both litigation and in-house counsel experience in the area of healthcare law. She is an editor and author for the MLMIC Medical Scope and provides legal advice to healthcare providers, dentists, and medical facilities on risk management, healthcare law, and professional liability.

Prior to joining the firm, Elizabeth served as in-house counsel to a large academic medical and research center providing legal advice to clinical staff and hospital executives on matters including regulatory compliance, data security, HIPAA/HITECH, anti-kickback, healthcare transactions and continuing medical education standards.  She also facilitated internal risk management investigations involving data privacy and employee disciplinary matters and developed risk mitigation and regulatory compliance policies and procedures.

Elizabeth was instrumental in the expansion of the Roswell Park® Care Network, broadening access to comprehensive cancer care for patients throughout New York State, and provided legal counsel on matters involving the hospital’s captive professional corporation. Elizabeth served as Corporate Secretary and legal advisor to the hospital’s biotechnology subsidiary and was the designated Ethics Officer for NYS Joint Commission on Public Ethics compliance.  In that role she provided numerous trainings to clinical and research staff, executives and Board members regarding public ethics and integrity in the practice of medicine and performance of clinical research. Elizabeth is admitted to practice law in the state of New York.  She received her J.D. in 2001 from Rutgers School of Law-Camden and her B.A. in 1998 from Marist College.

Dr. Wetzel, Ms. Gubala, and Ms. Ollinick are not associated with, employed by, nor consults for, any manufacturer, supplier, or retailer of dental instruments or materials.