It was in July 2010 that Medical Staff Briefing first reported on the American Medical Informatics Association's (AMIA) efforts to make clinical informatics a subspecialty. In November, AMIA announced at its annual symposium that qualifying physicians will be able to take a...
On September 25, the State of Minnesota District Court, Fifth Judicial District issued a ruling on the legal effect of medical staff bylaws. The court ruled that although medical staff bylaws do not constitute a binding contract between the hospital and the medical staff, a...
In 2007, a bill was passed amending California's whistleblower statute extending the rights previously granted to nonphysician staff members to include physicians as well. The amendment allowed physicians that brought forth patient safety complaints to sue the hospital for...
In October, CMS started dinging hospitals for what it considers excessive readmission rates. Some top-ranked hospitals, such as Massachusetts General Hospital and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, and North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, N.Y., will have to...
For many physicians, their first experience with the state medical board is filling out paperwork, popping it in the mail, and waiting patiently for their licenses to be delivered in return. If a physician has a second experience with the medical board, it is usually for a...
In July it was revealed that two New Mexico surgeons were involved in nearly 80 malpractice lawsuits after performing back surgeries that only one of the surgeons was qualified to perform.
Each year new technology emerges that changes the way physicians and surgeons perform procedures. The use of cutting-edge equipment has increased the quality of patient care by allowing more procedures to be done with minimally invasive techniques, and made previously complex or...
According to the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB), disciplinary actions against physicians have risen 6.8% nationwide. The number of prejudicial actions (including license suspensions, revocations, and probations) rose 4.1%, from 4,798 in 2010 to 4,996 in 2011, while...
As part of President Obama's executive order "Improving Regulations and Regulatory Review," which aims to reduce unnecessarily burdensome rules, CMS has granted hospitals and medical staffs greater flexibility in several key areas. The updated Conditions of Participation (CoP)...
A rash of cases in 2012 have piqued the interest of healthcare systems and legal experts on the matter of peer review protections. These cases serve as a timely reminder that medical staff services departments should take some time to review their procedures and ensure they are...
