Ask the expert: Why are we experiencing an increase in privileging disputes/turf battles?

The number of privileging disputes occurring in hospitals is growing rapidly. It's easy to understand this trend if you examine how medicine has evolved. In the 'good old days,' physicians of all specialties had defined areas of turf on the playing field and specialties didn't cross those boundaries; today those areas are much less defined.

This evolution is the result of developments in the following areas:
Residency training: Residents are increasingly trained to perform procedures or techniques that at one time were reserved for residents in a particular specialty.
Economics: As reimbursement by the government and other third-party payers continues to decline, physicians respond by increasing their productivity and expanding the scope of their practice beyond previous borders.

Learn more about this and other challenges medical staff leaders are encountering today in Medical Staff Leaders' Practical Guide, Sixth Edition, by William K. Cors, MD, MMM, FACPE; Mary J. Hoppa, MD, MBA, and Richard A. Sheff, MD, published by HCPro, Inc.