Dr Herman J. Edeling

Dr Herman Edeling matriculated in 1969, obtained an M.B.,B.Ch. degree in 1975 and practiced as a general practitioner for 10 years. He qualified as a neurosurgeon in 1992 and spent the next 16 years in private general neurosurgical practice.

Since 2008 he has limited his practice to consulting and medico-legal neurosurgery. He has written more than 3700 medico-legal reports and has testified in more than 230 in court matters as an expert witness. He has co-authored three publications on serious injury determination and the narrative test in peer reviewed journals.

In 2009 he obtained the ABIME CIME qualification. He served as a member of the HPCSA Appeal Tribunals from 2012 and as chairperson from 2014 to 2016. He has served APRAV as chairperson of the Solutions Task Team Medical Committee.

He completed the UCT/MiM medical negligence and health sector mediation training in January 2016 and has mediated more than 40 medico-legal disputes. He believes in the capacity of the mediation process to resolve conflict by harnessing the power of constructive self-determination of the parties to the dispute.

He served the South African Medico Legal Association (SAMLA) as a director from 2005 to 2020, deputy chairperson from 2011 to 2016 and faculty course leader/principal from 2015 to 2020. As an honorary life member, he currently serves as the chairperson of the SAMLA-RAF mediation pilot project.

He has led the development of a series of pioneering university-partnered postgraduate training courses in medico-legal practice. He is most encouraged by the collective goodwill and commitment of leading experts and academics in the fields of law, medicine and related sciences, that have been cooperating to present postgraduate training in medico-legal practice.

He has contributed actively to constructive engagement between SAMLA, Mediation in Motion, Conflict Dynamics, Departments of Health, Medical Protection Society and other stakeholders in addressing the national medical negligence crisis by interventions to curb negligent harm, as well as by developing and promoting medical mediation and transformation.

He is passionate about medical science, ethical practice, the inter-relationships between law, medicine and related sciences, justice, transformation, education, and the promotion of mutual respect and understanding. He serves on the International Ethics Research Project of Dr W Moore, and is a Member of the International Society for Therapeutic Jurisprudence.

ELMARIE PRINSLOO (BA, HED, BA (Hons), B(Ed) Psych, M(Ed) Psych)

Elmarie Prinsloo completed her high school education in 1973 and then commenced and completed her tertiary training at the University of Pretoria, University of the North West and University of Johannesburg. She started her career as a High School Teacher and then continued her working career as an Educational Psychologist at the School of Achievement. She started her own private practice in 1996 and rendered psychological services to private clients and schools. In this regard, she was appointed as Educational Psychologist at Woodhill College whilst also managing her own private practice. She commenced psycho-educational legal assessments in 2006 and, due to the workload involved in this field, she discontinued her association with Woodhill College two years later. She is currently still functioning in her private practice conducting psycho-educational assessments for medico-legal and medical negligence purposes and provides counselling on an intermittent basis within the Educational Psychology sphere.

Dr Sharon Truter

Dr Sharon Truter is registered as a Neuropsychologist and Counselling Psychologist with the HPCSA.  She completed her doctorate in the field of health psychology in 1996 and has been practising as a psychologist in private practice for over24 years, with the last 17 years being focused on neuropsychology. In 2005 she completed the Neuroanatomy course of the Master of Medicine (MMed) degree through Stellenbosch University and in the same year she was accepted as a Full SACNA member. In 2012 she started Neuropsychology SA, an organisation aimed at disseminating information about neuropsychology of relevance to South African practitioners. In 2014 she was made an Honorary Research Associate of Rhodes University. In 2019 she was awarded a fellowship by the British Neuropsychological Society (BNS) in conjunction with the Division of Neuropsychology of the British Psychological Society (DoN). In 2020, she was accepted onto the Register of Medico-Legal Practitioners of the South African Medico-Legal Association (SAMLA). She enjoys ongoing learning in neuropsychology and passing on that knowledge through training and supervision. Her research efforts have focused on collecting demographic-specific South African normative data on neuropsychological tests.

29 April
27 May
24 June
29 July
26 August
30 September
28 October
25 November

Seago Maapola

Educational Psychologist

Seago Maapola is an Educational Psychologist who has worked in diverse settings which have contributed extensively to her knowledge base. She is currently employed at St Mary’s DSG as an Educational Psychologist. Ms Maapola has previously worked at primary schools as well as at a special school in Pretoria. She had the opportunity to work closely with District and Head Office to facilitate the school placement process.
Seago previously worked as a consultant for psycho-legal practices, which sparked an interest into the effects of brain injuries on children and adults. She then enrolled and successfully completed the Foundational Course in Neuropsychology under the guidance of Prof. Truter. She was previously a member of the EPASSA Executive Committee and is still involved in the Education and Training Sub-committee.

Dr. Henry Lerm

Henry was admitted as an Attorney of the High Court in 1985. Henry has a wide range of experience both, in practice as well as the academia. He is an Adjunct Professor at the Nelson Mandela University and a Doctor in Law. Henry holds the degrees B. Proc, LLB, LLM and LLD (Univ. of Pretoria). The subject matter of the thesis for his Masters read: “Necrophilia: An Investigation into the Origin and Nature of the Crime in South African Law and Practice”. His thesis for his doctorate is titled ‘A Critical Analysis of Exclusionary Clauses in Medical Contracts’.

Henry was in private practice until 2003 when he joined Legal Aid South Africa in the capacity as Justice Centre Executive, where he served as Head of Office until his retirement in December 2018. He has since joined the staff at the Nelson Mandela University where he assists at the Nelson Mandela Law Clinic at the Missionvale campus in Port Elizabeth. He has also been utilized as a lecturer in various subjects inter alia Criminology, Private International Law and Legal Ethics.

Henry is a respected member of the legal fraternity in the Eastern Cape where he has served on various committees involving the legal profession, especially the functioning of the courts, access to justice etc. He is a former President of the Attorneys Association of the South Eastern Cape, Port Elizabeth. He has appeared in both the High Court and lower courts, including the Magistrate and Regional courts.

He has held membership of a number of esteemed organizations. Currently, he serves as the National Deputy Chairperson – Legal, of the South African Medico-Legal Association (“SAMLA”) and Henry serves as the Branch Chairperson for the Eastern Cape of SAMLA. Henry has been a member of the National Association of Democratic Lawyers in excess of 30 years.

His memberships of legal organizations include, functioning as a lecturer at the Practical Legal Training School, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University sine 1999 where he has taught a variety of subjects, including Procedural Law, Constitutional Law and High Court Practice. Henry was engaged by the Legal Education and Development department of the Law Society of South Africa in 2009 and has since tutored many practising attorneys around the country in the Law of Contract, Legal Writing for Litigation (acted as co-facilitator), Medical Law and Ethics; Advanced Medical Law; Legal Interpretation. He became the first attorney appointed by the Law Society of South Africa to reach out to the medical profession to teach Medical law and Ethics to the medical profession.

Henry has published articles in law journals including the following topics “The right to silence under siege”; “Two Heads Are Better than One”- Assessors In High Court Civil Cases “; “Expert Witnesses: Beware of the Hired Gun”; Exclusionary Clauses Revisited In The South African Context”; Fracking: An Energy Dream Come True or an Environmental Nightmare? Medico Legal Practice – Do we need a paradigm shift? He delivered papers at conferences including “Cross Examination How Powerful Thy Sword”; “Corruption – The Origin, Nature and Historical Development of the Crime in Perspective”; “The Impact of the Consumer Protection Act on the Medical Care Services”; “Minimizing the risk of Malpractice Litigation” and “Palliative Care as a Form of Relief for the Dying: A South African Perspective”.

Henry has over the years delivered a number of papers at conferences, seminars and workshops. Recently, he has taken part in a number of panel discussions involving COVID-19 related topics.

He has a passion for both Medical law and Constitutional law and has been involved in a number of constitutional impact matters concerning bail, contract law, housing and sanitation.

Dr. HSC Pieterse-Kruqer
I matriculated in 1984 in Springs, Gauteng. Thereafter l did my pre-and postgraduate studies at the University of the Free State. I worked as a General Practitioner in Vereeniging, Gauteng for 5 years before starting my speciality in Psychiatry. I started a private practice in Worcester, Western Cape and have been working for the past 15 years as a General Adult Psychiatrist. Special areas of interest are Adult ADD, Autism Spectrum Disorders, Dementia, Substance Use Disorders, Play therapy in adult Jungian Psycho-analytic therapy and Mindfulness therapy.

Ethical ICD-10 coding and billing: 1 March 2021
Presented by Marianne Nel

Overview of the session

• Brief explanation of ICD-10 vs ICD-10-CM
• DSM-5® and ICD-10
• Medical necessity
• ICD-10 Master Industry Table
• ICD-10 rejections and how to submit compliant ICD-10 claims
• Coding rules and conventions
• Rules for Claims submission and Practice Management Application software
• Coding in practice/Benefits of coding
• The ethics and practicalities of coding

Joy Nel is a Psychologist in private practice, Fairland Johannesburg, South Africa. Joy has been in private practice for 13 years now. She is co-director of MEISA South Africa. She is also a part time lecturer at a number of universities nationally and internationally. Joy has been involved with training of other psychologists and educators for a number of years. Joy is also the headmistress of a small preschool for kids up to the age of 5 or up to grade 00. In her practice and in the school, the focus is on working with children to empower optimal development and learning, focusing on Emotional intelligence, Social intelligence and sensory aspects. She is currently studying her PHD in Strategic Therapies and anxiety in small children. She is involved in the training fellow psychologists in Narrative Therapy and Ego States therapy with children and focusing on the utilization of stories and metaphors and art in guiding children and adolescents to cope with issues such as Divorce, Bullying, Trauma, Abuse, Low self-esteem and Self-Injury to mention a few. Joy received her training in Ericksonian Psychotherapy and Hypnosis from the Milton. H Erickson Institute of South Africa (MEISA). Joy has presented workshops at International Congresses for Psychologists in Germany, Switzerland and South Africa. Joy has written a few articles and internationally published chapters on the utilization of an Ericksonian-Narrative approach in therapy. She is currently in the process of writing and publishing therapeutic children’s stories to assist children with anxiety, depression, divorce, emotional intelligence and Bullying.

Vanessa Gaydon is a registered Educational Psychologist (PS0027014) who has worked in clinical private practice for 31 years, and who conducts psychotherapy with children, adolescents, adults, couples and families. She also conducts clinical and medico-legal psychoeducational and neuropsychological assessments and consults in the corporate environment. She is a founding member of the Educational Psychology Association of South Africa (EPASSA) and immediate past chairperson. Vanessa has published a number of papers in international academic journals and is the author of “Race against the Ratios” published by the Institute of Race Relations. She is an elected member of the Discovery Health Psychology Panel. She provides pro-bono assessments for underprivileged children in need, and most recently she provided her services as a member of the consulting psychologists panel for the Life Esidimeni Arbitration Process.

Vanessa has been an executive committee member of EPASSA since its founding in November 2014. She served as Treasurer from 2014-2017 and as Chairperson until September 2020. During her tenure on the EPASSA exco Vanessa has worked extensively on Advocacy issues that challenge our profession. As chairperson Vanessa also made in her goal to establish structures and subcommittees within the organisation in order to create a manageable and sustainable association that addresses the various needs of the members. Under her chairmanship various sub-committees were established including the Advocacy, Administration and Financial, Community Outreach, Education and Training subcommittees. I her role as past chairperson Vanessa continues to be a dedicated member of the EPASSA exco.

Marianne Nel qualified as a registered nurse in 1997 and practiced as registered nurse at Triomf Medicross for 5 years. Marianne joined Discovery Health in 2003 as a Case manager. In 2005 she started doing clinical coding audits to support some of our hospital contracts. Marianne moved to In Hospital Risk management in 2008 where she did extensive clinical, coding and forensic audits. In 2010 Marianne decided to pursue her passion for coding and her work was split 50:50 between in hospital risk management and clinical coding. Marianne started a full time position in the Clinical Coding Unit in 2013. She currently oversees coding quality and offers coding support to our local and international businesses. Marianne has successfully completed local and international coding studies on diagnostic and procedural coding. Marianne is also involved in work taking place at the Private Healthcare Information Standards Committee (PHISC).