Ask the expert: What is an automatic suspension or relinquishment?

Bylaws typically articulate the circumstances under which a practitioner's privileges will be automatically suspended because of a failure to comply with one or more administrative requirements. These suspensions usually conclude once the practitioner complies with the requirement(s). Because these suspensions do not reflect a judgment on the practitioner's competence or professional conduct, they do not typically entitle the practitioner to a hearing or appeal, and they are not reportable to the National Practitioner Data Bank.

Many hospitals have replaced the term "automatic suspension" with "automatic relinquishment," wherein practitioners must lose their privileges because they did not fulfill basic rules established in the bylaws or they failed to meet requirements mandated by state law or regulation. Relinquishment can also be applied to situations in which the state board or another entity has acted to diminish a practitioner's licensure status.

This week's question and answer are excerpted from The Greeley Guide to Medical Staff Bylaws, Second Edition, by Joseph D. Cooper, MD.