Hospital Medical Staffs Need to Know Their Rights December 5, 2011 CMA CMA, medical staff 0 Self-governing medical staffs are vital to providing quality patient care in California’s hospitals, but with fewer physicians practicing in hospitals and the increasing demands of cost-conscious delivery systems, this can be difficult. Under state law and Medicare regulations, hospitals are required to have an independent, self-governing medical staff charged with the professional work of the hospital. The medical staff works with the hospitals to ensure quality of care and can serve to insulate medical decision makers from the potential of undue influences driven by profit motives or other reasons unrelated to patient care. To preserve this autonomy, medical staffs have a variety of rights provided for under California law, including the ability to retain legal counsel, elect leadership, conduct peer review and manage a separate bank account dedicated to medical staff funds. Medical staff associations also have the option to sue a hospital, should they feel their right to self-governance has been violated. “Many physician members of a hospital’s medical staff often are not fully aware of the California laws that establish medical staff self-governance,” said Long Do, legal counsel for the California Medical Association (CMA). “CMA offers informational materials and makes speakers available to educate medical staffs of the importance of self-governance.” CMA provides hospital physicians with a variety of resources to help strengthen staff associations and maintain and assert self-governance. Medical staffs interested in consulting with representatives from CMA’s Center for Legal Affairs or receiving a CMA speaker on this topic should contact the CMA member help center, (800) 786-4262 or medstaffhelp@cmanet.org. Comments are closed.
