Do employed physicians automatically lose clinical privileges if they are terminated?
Your organization must decide if it will include co-terminus language in the employment agreement regarding employment and privileges. This means that if the physician is terminated, he or she automatically loses medical staff membership/clinical privileges. If there is no co-terminus language, the formerly employed physician will retain medical staff membership and/or all granted privileges at your organization. If your organization is all right with this arrangement, then there is no problem. They remain at your organization but are no longer a health system-employed physician.
The real problem occurs when the termination is not amicable or it is not all right with the health system for the terminated physician to retain medical staff membership/clinical privileges. The absence of co-terminus language in this situation, where the physician desires to maintain membership/privileges, will present a major challenge. Depending on how the physician pursues his or her interest, the health system could face a legal action and/or the physician may choose to exercise due process under the medical staff bylaws.
On the other hand, if there is co-terminus language, the medical staff leader or the medical staff services department can do nothing about privileges if there is a co-terminus provision in the employment agreement. No employment agreement, no privileges. The problem, as seen above, is when there is no co-terminus provision: The physician will argue that he or she still has privileges and can practice at the hospital. Be prepared for a possible lengthy legal process or medical staff fair hearing process. To avoid all this, it is a best practice to have co-terminus language; conversely, it is a horrendous practice not to have it if it is truly the intention of the health system employer to disallow continued association with the health system after termination. As a medical staff leader, it would be useful to know what the standard practice of your organization is regarding co-terminus language in employed physician agreements.