Avoid conflicts and eliminate bias by engaging an outside peer review firm

Between mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, exclusive contracts, and physician-owned hospitals and clinics, it’s no wonder physicians find themselves knee deep in conflicts of interest. Unfortunately for medical staffs, these conflicts can hamper peer review efforts.

“Doctors are either colleagues or competitors,” says Skip Freedman, MD, executive medical director of AllMed Healthcare Management, a peer review services firm in Portland, OR. “There is so much conflict of interest that it is impossible for most medical staffs to do internal peer review in a meaningful, non-judgmental way.” 

If your medical staff is riddled with conflicts of interest like Freedman describes, best practice is to turn over at least a portion of your peer review process to an external firm that can provide objective reviews.

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