One-fourth of America’s practicing physicians are age 65 or older, and this proportion will continue to rise as the peak of the baby boomer generation enters the ranks of the elderly. According to the AMA, more than 40% of the nation’s 1 million doctors are older than 50. These are daunting...
As news of Christopher Duntsch’s botched surgeries broke and the public began to realize the catastrophic proportions of this disaster, it became clear that Duntsch would find himself in the legal arena. While people may have assumed that Duntsch would face civil actions, he also had his day in...
Credentialing Resource Center Journal - Volume 28, Issue 4
The corrective action, summary suspension, and fair hearing processes are high-stakes proceedings and extremely stressful for all involved. Hospitals can alleviate some of this stress by ensuring their medical staff bylaws do not create extra pressure points when managing practitioner behavior...
Health records are data-rich, and more stakeholders are looking to dip into them for increasingly diverse purposes such as population health and value-based care programs. At the same time, payers are stepping up their use of data to guide audits, and the growing burden of documentation is cited...
This year will feature several significant trends and developments for physician assistants (PA), says Dawn Morton-Rias, EdD, PA-C, president and CEO of the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA).
Credentialing Resource Center Journal - Volume 28, Issue 3
The United States District Court of Maine (the “Court”) ruled in favor of a plaintiff seeking to compel a juvenile reformatory and the Maine Department of Corrections to produce certain documents, finding that self-critical analysis and peer review privileges were not applicable to the case....
Many medical staffs undergo significant redesign of their peer review programs to decrease bias and improve efficiency. While staffs typically adopt well-written policies that reflect those changes, unfortunately these programs commonly drift back to their old ways. This is often because initial...
It has been two years since Christopher Duntsch, MD, was convicted of a felony count of injury to an elderly person and sentenced to life in prison. Duntsch, a former neurosurgeon practicing in the Dallas area between 2012 and 2013, allegedly killed or maimed as many as 35 patients in botched...
Credentialing Resource Center Journal - Volume 28, Issue 3
Following the bylaws is critical because they reflect state and federal laws and regulations, such as the Health Care Quality Improvement Act (HCQIA). These laws and regulations include specific parameters for conducting the corrective action and the fair hearing, says Jon Kammerzelt, partner...
Credentialing Resource Center Journal - Volume 28, Issue 3
The fair hearing is a culmination of several detailed processes that medical staff service departments must follow when addressing concerns about a physician’s competency or behavior.
The following example broadly outlines the steps that result in a fair hearing, but keep in mind:...
