Medical Staff Credentialing: Minimizing Liability Arising From Negligent Credentialing and Physician Lawsuits

Hospitals are increasing scrutiny of physician performance. Medical staff and physician participants in managed care entities are profiled and given regular reports on factors such as average length of stay, cost per visit, and whether the outcomes achieved compare favorably with their peers.

The focus on quality outcomes relies on data that show the physicians’ current competency to perform to the standards of their clinical privileges. Hospitals that fail to take proper remedial action are subject to corporate negligence or negligent credentialing claims.

Listen as our authoritative panel of healthcare attorneys examines the procedures healthcare entities should follow in credentialing the medical staff—and the legal consequences of failing to do so. The panel will explain the privileging and the peer review process and outline best practices for mitigating liability.

1. Negligent credentialing case law
2. Joint Commission standards on focused and ongoing performance monitoring
3. Defending against a corporate negligence claim
4. Best practices to minimize liability for negligent credentialing
   1. Preventative steps
   2. Pay for performance
   3. Maximizing confidentiality protection under peer review statute
   4. Measures to ensure confidential treatment of collected data and reports
   5. Other forms of remedial action

The panel will review these and other key issues:

• What are the critical policies and procedures for healthcare entities to minimize liability for negligent credentialing?
• What are the professional criteria that healthcare entities should require physicians to meet as the basis for granting initial or renewed clinical privileges?
• What protections should healthcare providers have to keep peer review records from public scrutiny?