Ask the expert: Who is obligated to take emergency department calls?

In the past, no physician refused emergency department calls under any circumstances. Recently, however, physicians have begun to reject this duty. All medical staffs should review their policies regarding on-call physicians and consider adopting a policy that obligates all physicians to participate in an on-call rotation if they are so requested.

The medical executive committee (MEC) is responsible for:

• Determining the specialties that must be represented on the emergency call list
• Working with each department chair to determine who will represent each specialty on this list, keeping in mind that physicians who are hospital-based or who do not actively provide patient care may be exempted from the list
• Determining whether certain non-physician providers may take back-up calls. For example, a nurse midwife may fill in for an obstetrician.

A physician may contract with other physicians to provide assigned emergency services for him or her. These arrangements must be formal and approved by the MEC after being submitted in writing to the appropriate department chair, the medical staff office, and the emergency department.

Failure of any medical staff member to meet the obligations of emergency coverage is cause for disciplinary action.

The following information was adapted from The Top 30 Medical Staff Policies and Procedures, Third Edition, by Hugh Greeley; Richard A. Sheff, MD; and Albert L. Fritz, MHA. To learn more, click here.