As the aging population increases, the physician workforce decreases, and reimbursement rates struggle to keep up, many organizations are seeking cost-saving solutions wherever possible. One way to achieve that is to consolidate services where it makes sense to, and MSPs and provider enrollment...
Most medical staff bylaws contain a provision concerning the categories into which the medical staff will be divided. In fact, many medical staffs have created an unnecessarily complex array of categories. Many of these categories were created 20–30 years ago as medical staffs tried to...
This past July, the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine unanimously passed two new rules aimed at further regulating overlapping surgeries to optimize patient safety in the operating room. As defined by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in Boston, overlapping surgery, sometimes...
Since June 2018, the medical staff services department at Indiana University (IU) Health Bloomington Hospital has conducted a well-received new provider orientation (NPO) program. NPO is scheduled every Monday and Tuesday and canceled when it is not needed. Leaders are responsible for making...
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has established the Conditions of Participation (CoP), which are the absolute minimum set of requirements that all hospitals must meet to participate in federal payment programs. CoP s require that there be an organized...
According to a study of private health insurance claims data, use of telehealth services is increasing rapidly. In 2005, the number of annual telemedicine visits in the data set was 206. In 2017, that number increased to more than 202,000. As telemedicine use continues to surge, it is becoming...
The bylaws are the constitution of the medical staff, and the governance section is the foundation of this constitution. This manual should be clear, succinct, and user-friendly and should also include answers to the following questions.
Many bylaws documents begin with a preamble or introduction. There is no requirement for this component, and it frequently adds unnecessary bulk to the document. If a preamble is included, the medical staff should customize it to reflect any unique attributes of the hospital, community, and...
In 2018, at the annual conference of the American Academy of PAs (AAPA), the House of Delegates voted in favor of investigating a potential title change for physician assistants (PA). The vote indicated only that alternatives would be explored, not that the PA...
The medical executive committee (MEC) is the only committee required for an organized medical staff, according to Joint Commission standards. Despite their arguments to the contrary, however, few modern healthcare organizations could survive with only one committee. A variety of other committees...
