forensic psychologist
forensic psychologist
Bruce Borkosky, Psy.D. PA forensic psychologist and expert witness
Bruce Borkosky, Psy.D. PA forensic psychologist and expert witness

Publications

DECODING THE ETHICS CODE

 

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Dr. Fisher's ethics reference is comprehensive and CHOCK full of good information. However, I believe there are some errors, specifically related to HIPAA and test data. Here are my suggestions for corrections to the fifth edition of the book. For each suggestion, I provide - page number, the incorrect passage, the reason why the passage is incorrect, and my suggested replacement text.

 

Borkosky, B. G. (2023). Decoding the Ethic Code: Errors and Misleading Statements (unpublished manuscript).

COPING WITH SUBPOENAS - WRITTEN OBJECTIONS

 

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The first thing you should do when in receipt of a subpoena is to determine whether it is legally valid. If not legally valid, you can file written objections. It's easy to do, doesn't require an attorney, and stops the discovery process.

 

Borkosky, B. G. (2020). Responding to subpoenas: Written objections. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice51(4), 352. https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2020-12704-001.

COPING WITH SUBPOENAS - OHIO VERSION

 

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A psychiatrist offers advice on 'coping with subpoenas' for other psychiatrists. I describe several errors in the article.

 

Borkosky, B.G. (2016) Comment: Coping with subpoenas, Ohio version. (unpublished manuscript).

COPING WITH SUBPOENAS - ALABAMA VERSION

 

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Two attorneys recently published advice on 'coping with subpoenas' for the Medical Association of Alabama. I describe several errors in the article.

 

Borkosky, B.G. (2016) Comment: Coping with subpoenas, Alabama version. (unpublished manuscript).

COPING WITH SUBPOENAS - PSYCHIATRIC VERSION

 

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The American Psychiatric Association (ApA) recently published advice on 'coping with subpoenas', in a manner similar to the American Psychological Association ApA). Unfortunately, the ApA also provides some incorrect and misleading information. My comments are provided here.

 

Borkosky, B.G. (2016) Comment: Coping with subpoenas, psychiatric version. (unpublished manuscript).

OPEN LETTER TO THE FLORIDA PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION

 

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In this open letter to FPA, I document some of the organizational problems, and analyze the causes of those problems. I then offer several concrete, practical recommendations to solve those problems.

 

Borkosky, B. G. (2016). Recommendations for FPA: An Open Letter to the Florida Psychological Association. Unpublished manuscript.

COPING WITH SUBPOENAS - FINAL COMMENTS

 

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In a prior comment, I noted some of the problems with COLI's current recommendations for 'coping with subpoenas'. COLI responded to that comment. The above document is my response to those comments.

 

Borkosky, B. G. (2016). ‘Coping with Subpoenas’: final response. Unpublished manuscript. 

COMMENT - COPING WITH SUBPOENAS

 

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APA's legal committee (COLI) has published 3 articles that make recommendations for responding to subpoenas for psychotherapy records. The first of these was published in 1996, before the enactment of HIPAA and the promulgation of the 2003 APA ethics code. However, the 2016 version of this article is essentially unchanged since the 1996 version. In this comment, I assert that these recommendations are outdated in many respects. To the extent they are outdated, they have not kept pace with the changes in the ethics code, laws, or social policy.

 

Borkosky, B. G. (2016). ‘Coping with Subpoenas’; no longer consistent with the law, ethics, or social policy. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice 47(3), 250-251. http://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/pro0000091

COMMENT ON VANDERPOOL

 

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In this comment, I correct several errors in an article regarding disclosure of psychological testing records. This version includes an analysis of the author's response.

 

Borkosky, B. G. (2015). Comment: Regarding disclosure of psychological testing information.  Innovations in Clinical Neuroscience, 12(7-8) pp. 10-11. http://innovationscns.epubxp.com/i/555782-jul-aug-2015/10

COMMENT ON KLEINMAN & WALKER

 

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In this comment, I correct several errors in an article regarding disclosure of psychological testing records. This version includes an analysis of the author's response.

 

Borkosky, B. G. (2015). Comment: Kleinman & Walker’s “Protecting Psychotherapy Clients”.  Journal of of Child Custody, 12(2), 1-10. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15379418.2015.1037055

PSYCHOTHERAPY RECORDS AND THE LEGAL SYSTEM

 

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In this article, Professor Smith and I assert that psychotherapists should perform an informed consent with the patient, prior to disclosing records to the legal system. The arguments for this include - 1. informed consent is a legal and ethical requirement, even in forensic circumstances, 2. informed consent, even under normal circumstances, is problematic, 3. there are serious negative consequences that could potentially result from disclosures to the legal system, and 4. the legal system does not protect the patient. This version has been updated from the original prublished version.

 

Borkosky, B. G. & Smith, D. (2015).  The risks and benefits of disclosing psychotherapy records to the legal system: What psychologists and patients need to know for informed consent.  International Journal of Psychiatry and Law, 42-43(19-30). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlp.2015.08.003

POSTER - WHO IS THE CLIENT?

 

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In this poster presented at the 2014 annual conference of the American Psychological Association, I presented a graphical summary of my analysis of forensic mental health ethics codes and professional practice guidelines. The majority opinion was not that the referral source should be considered to be 'the client'.

 

Borkosky, B. G. (2014).  Who is the client and who controls release of records in a forensic evaluation? Poster presented at the 122nd Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association. Washington, D.C. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/e557282014-001

POSTER - JUSTIFICATIONS FOR REFUSING ACCESS

 

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In this poster presented at the 2014 annual conference of the American Psychological Association, I presented a qualitative categorization of hundreds of reasons offered (in the literature and via personal communication) by psychologists for refusing to provide patients / evaluees with a copy of their records.

 

Borkosky, B. G. (2014). Reasons for Withholding Records from the Forensic Evaluee. Poster presented at the 122nd Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association. Washington, D.C. 

http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/e518542015-001

PRESENTATION - PRIVACY, PRIVILEGE, AND PATIENT ACCESS

 

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A continuing education presentation for the Florida Psychological Association. Met the laws and rules continuing education requirement for Florida.

 

“Treating Minors, Couples and Families: Consent to Treatment, Confidentiality, and Records Disclosure”, Invited Lecturer, Florida Psychological Association, Palm Beach Chapter, West Palm Beach Fl. 3/14/14.

WHO IS THE CLIENT AND

WHO CONTROLS DISCLOSURES

IN A FORENSIC EVALUATION?

 

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In yet another first-of-its-kind article, Dr. Borkosky examines the widely held belief that the referral source is 'the' client and, because of this, controls the disclosure of records. The primary basis for this 'the client' view is ethical. Thus, Dr. Borkosky performed a qualitative analysis of 54 ethics codes and forensic professional practice guidelines. The majority of official documents did not support the majority view. Dr. Borkosky also suggests that this view would result in several of practical problems, and offers several ethical arguments supporting evaluee access to their records.

 

Borkosky, B. G. (2014).  Who is the client in a forensic evaluation, and who controls release of records?

A review of ethics codes and practice guidelines. Psychological Injury and Law 7(3), 264-289.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12207-014-9199-6.   Erratum at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12207-015-9221-7

A TOOL FOR SEARCHING OPEN ACCESS ARTICLES

 

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Many forensic psychology articles are not available via traditional repositories such as APA's psycnet. These articles are available online (via the internet), but there is no easy way to discover which journals are open access, which are relevant to forensic psychology, and which of the articles contained therein might be relevant to one's current interest. In this article, Dr. Borkosky describes how he created a tool, using Google, that will search multiple open access journals for any keyword the user types, and returns articles containing those keywords.  

 

Borkosky, B. G. (2014). Creation of an internet search tool specific to open access, forensic psychology journals. American Psychology-Law News, 34(1), 39-43.  Journal Search

WHITEPAPER - HIPAA'S ACCESS RIGHT

 

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An analysis of HIPAA's access right - a broad new national standard that requires that patients be able to obtain a copy of their records. This standard overrules state laws that permit the withholding of records from the patient / evaluee. Includes practical suggestions for resolving common problems.

 

Borkosky, B.(2014). HIPAA's patient access rights: What patients and providers need to know when patients want a copy of their records. The Malvern Group 

THE PSYCHOTHERAPIST-PATIENT PRIVILEGE IN FLORIDA FAMILY LAW

 

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Everything you wanted to know about the psychotherapy privilege in (Florida) cases of divorce and child custody. When are therapy records permitted or required to be introduced as evidence?

 

Borkosky, B.& Thomas, M. (2013). Florida's Psychotherapist-Patient Privilege in Family Court. Florida Bar Journal, (87)5, 35-40.

http://www.floridabar.org/DIVCOM/JN/JNJournal01.nsf/c0d731e03de9828d852574580042ae7a/30b2ee7a50708c1385257b5c0062d584!OpenDocument

PATIENT ACCESS RIGHTS ARE INVISIBLE

 

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Dr. Borkosky argues that mental health providers have focused on the duty to maintain confidentiality, to the exclusion of the right of patients to obtain a copy of their records (their access right).

 

Borkosky, B. G. (2013).  Patient access: The invisible confidentiality right.  The National Psychologist, 22(6), 9-10. http://nationalpsychologist.com/2013/11/patient-access-to-records-the-invisible-confidentiality-right/102340.html

DOES HIPAA EXCLUDE FORENSIC EVALUATION RECORDS FROM

THE PATIENT ACCESS RIGHT, BECAUSE THEY ARE

"INFORMATION COMPILED IN ANTICIPATION" OF LITIGATION?

 

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Part 2 of the HIPAA series. In this article, Dr. Borkosky debunks the myth that the HIPAA access right (45 CFR 164.524) excludes forensic evaluations, based on the phrase "information compiled in anticipation" of litigation. HHS clarifies that it is referring to attorney work product.

 

Borkosky, B. & Pellett, J. (2013) Can forensic evaluators refuse to release records to evaluees because the records are “information compiled in reasonable anticipation of" litigation? American Journal of Forensic Psychology 31(3) 21-40.

ARE FORENSIC EVALUATIONS HEALTHCARE,

AND ARE THEY REGULATED BY HIPAA? 

 

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In another landmark article, Dr. Borkosky reviews the argument that forensic evaluations are not regulated by HIPAA, and finds that this is a myth.

 

Borkosky, B. G., Pellett, J., & Thomas, M.  (2013). Are Forensic Evaluations ‘Healthcare’ and are they Regulated by HIPAA? Psychological Injury and the Law, 17(1). pp. 1-8.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12207-013-9158-7

FORENSIC EVALUATION RECORDS ARE NO LONGER
'OWNED' BY THE REFERRAL SOURCE

 

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In this first-of-its-kind article, Dr. Borkosky reviews several arguments against the rights of evaluees to access the evaluation records, and debunks each one.

 

Borkosky, B. G.   (2012). Why forensic records are no longer ‘owned’ by the referral source: Requirements for psychologists to permit patient access and release of records. Florida Psychologist, 63(1), 8-9, 22-23. http://www.flapsych.com/  

PRISONERS' RIGHT TO TREATMENT

 

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Why mental health providers should treat inmates and detainees when they are unable to consent.

 

Borkosky, B. G. (2011). Expert Opinion. American Psychology-Law News, 31(3), 4-5.

Borkosky, B. G. (1993). A Model for a Psychodiagnostic Training Tool: Using Interactive Video for Teaching the DSM-III-R; Dissertation.

 

http://books.google.com/books/about/A_Model_for_Psychodiagnostic_Training_To.html?id=XBu2NwAACAAJ

Dr. Bruce Borkosky, Psy.D.. PA

305 Pine Tree Dr,

Dothan AL 36303

 

Phone: (863) 386-0276

toll free (800) 919-9008

Fax: (863) 204-4679

Email: drborkosky at gmail dot com

Dr. Borkosky's practice is limited to telehealth at the present time.

CURRICULUM VITA

please download my vita
updated 9/5/16
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© 2013, Bruce Borkosky, Psy.D.