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UW Pediatrics

Process Instructions

Table of Contents

  1. Site of Practice (SOP) Process
    1. What is a Site of Practice?
    2. Do I need site of practice approval?
      1. Timelines
      2. Working outside the United States
      3. Faculty/Division Administration Instructions for Submitting a Request in the Department of Pediatrics
  2. Outside Work for Compensation Process
    1. What is considered outside work?
    2. When do I need approval?
    3. Why do I need to do this?
    4. Faculty Process for Submitting Requests
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Site of Practice (SOP) Process

What is a Site of Practice?

A Site of Practice (SOP) is a location where you practice medicine. As a faculty clinician at the UW School of Medicine you have limitations on your clinical practice, including where you can practice without prior approval. ALL sites of practice, including any at which you engage in volunteer activities, must be approved by the dean through an approval process. Review of proposed off-site clinical practice is required to assure you are covered by the University’s professional liability program when providing clinical care to patients.

Do I need site of practice approval?

To ensure alignment with the mission of UW Medicine, all UWSOM faculty clinicians must have prior approval from the UW Medicine CEO before engaging in Clinical Practice at a particular location, including volunteer activities. The medical malpractice liability coverage provided for faculty through the University and Practice Plans only apply to approved sites of practice where providers are practicing in their capacity as a UW faculty clinician.

UW Medicine, Seattle Children’s and their affiliated facilities are Pre-Approved Sites and no further approvals are required.

Clinical practice is defined as “the type of services for which a Washington state professional health care credential (e.g. MD, MP, and PA) is required.”

Some activities where site of practice approval is required:

  • The delivery of clinical health care to a patient. This includes direct clinical contact and care of the patient, laboratory, pathology or radiology services associated with a specific patient’s care, or providing individual medical consultation or advice to a patient.
  • Directing other health care professionals in their treatment of an individual patient.
  • Medical Director services to a clinic, facility, or site in which health care services are provided.

Some activities where site of practice approval may not be required:

  • Observation. If it's observation only, then no site of practice is required. But if there is work on protocols or other clinical procedures, there may be some risk and it's better to seek SOP approval.
  • Research. If the activity is research, and IRB approval from the host institution has been obtained, SOP review is not required. If there is clinical work outside of research, then SOP approval is required.

Timelines

The SOP committee requests receipt of proposals at least one month prior to commencement of the proposed activities. Requests that take place out of the country will take longer to process, so we suggest making those requests at least two months in advance.

Working outside the United States

There are extra considerations when requesting SOP approval at a foreign site. Please visit the UW Medicine Sites of Practice site for more information.

Faculty/Division Administration Instructions for Submitting a Request in the Department of Pediatrics

  1. Email the Chair’s Office (Pedssignatures@seattlechildrens.org) to initiate a request or if you have any questions.
  2. The Chair’s Office will respond with a document that includes questions for you to fill out in as much detail as possible. This document contains questions that the SOP Survey asks, and therefore answers are needed for submittal.
  3. Once the question document is returned to the Chair’s Office, they will enter the answers into the catalyst survey—officially initiating the submission to the UW SOP Office.
    1. Based on the activity and site, additional documents you may be asked to share are:
      1. Copy of licensure (for the state or country that you are working in)
      2. Evidence of privileges (if applicable)
      3. Copy of agreement (draft or final; if applicable)
  4. The Chair’s Office and/or the SOP Office will contact you if anything additional is needed, and when the request has been approved.
  5. Once approved, if the site requests  proof of the malpractice insurance, you may request a certificate on the Risk Services website (https://risk.uw.edu/proof) by clicking “Request a provider certificate”.

If you have any questions, please contact the Chair’s Office (Pedssignatures@seattlechildrens.org).

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Outside Work for Compensation Process

What is considered outside work?

Any and all professional work performed for any type of compensation to you from a non-UW entity requires approval, with some exceptions for non-profit organizations and as noted in Additional Considerations below.

When do I need approval?

Obtain approval before engaging in outside professional work.

Why do I need to do this?

Requesting and receiving approval prior to engaging in outside professional work is required by UW policy, Executive Order 57. It also helps protect you from penalties for violating certain provisions of the Washington State Public Ethics Law.

Restrictions

  • Maximum 13 calendar days each academic quarter (averaging no more than one day per seven-day week).
  • May not use University facilities
  • No conflicts of interest
  • May not transfer intellectual property
  • Must obtain prior approval

Faculty Process for Submitting Requests

  1. Log on to the online portal using your netID (https://apps.som.washington.edu/OutsideWork). NOTE: no paper forms will be accepted – all requests must be submitted through the portal.
  2. Click on “Create a Request” in the upper right menu.
  3. In the top section of the form (“A. Applicant Information”), enter your NetID and click on “Get Applicant Info.”
  4. Complete remainder of the form, saving frequently.  Here are some tips for filling it out accurately:
    • Please note that for section C “number of days” a day is considered 8 hours. The system only accepts integers, so round up. For example, if you will be spending 15 hours on this, you would round up to “2” (since 15 / 8 = 1.875).
    • Additionally, the number of hours you put in the supplemental form under section B for calculating the pay (if activity pays by the hour) needs to be equivalent to the number that you placed in section C. For example, if you will be spending 15 hours on this activity, you would have put “2” and section C (as calculated above) and “15 hours” in the supplemental form.
    • Finally, if the activity pays per hour, the number that is listed in the supplemental form section A needs to also be equivalent to the number of hours. For example, if you are spending 15 hours on the activity and getting paid $100 an hour, you would put “$1500” in the supplemental form section A (15 hours x $100 an hour = $1500).
  5. Once the 1460 and SoM Supplement are complete, click “Submit.”
  6. If your application does not have any errors, it will route automatically for approval. No further action is needed on your part. If the system indicates your application contains errors, you will need to correct the identified errors before you can submit your application. Please double check that your form has submitted successfully prior to closing the window.
  7. Once submitted, the request will route to McKenna Pho, Leslie Walker-Harding, and then to the Outside Work Office and Dean’s Office for approval. If any of the approvers have a question or issue with the form, they will use the communication tool within the form to email the requester.

You can now create a new request from a previously approved request!

  1. Log into the system using your netID (https://apps.som.washington.edu/OutsideWork).
  2. Locate the previous request on the dashboard and click on the ID number to open the request.
  3. Click “Copy Request” at the top of the form.
  4. The system will then create a new application using information from the previous request.
  5. Follow the steps above (starting at step 4) to update/complete the required information and submit.

If you have any questions, please contact Pedssignatures@seattlechildrens.org or McKenna.Pho@seattlechildrens.org.

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