Ask the expert: We are forming a physician health committee to help rehabilitate our impaired physicians. Who should we choose to sit on this committee?

For the most part, the physician health committee (PHC) is composed of senior medical staff members who are respected by their colleagues for their fairness and wisdom and who have a passion for patient safety and physician advocacy. Like the behavioral event review committee (BERC), it may be helpful if such individuals have complementary expertise in behavioral fields to provide necessary skill and understanding; however, this decision is up to each medical staff. Any member of the PHC should have extensive education and experience involving disruptive behavior and impairment. The medical staff advisor is a member of both the BERC and PHC. He or she also attends each division’s/department’s quality meetings, the credentials committee meetings, and the monthly meeting of the medical executive committee. The medical staff advisor’s goal is to connect the dots between the committees and prevent silos from developing.

This week’s question and answer are from A Practical Guide to Managing Disruptive and Impaired Physicians, by R. Dean White, DDS, MS; and Jonathan H. Burroughs, MD, MBA, FACPE, CMSL.