Follow up after an MEC meeting

If you are a medical staff leader, you may think that following up with others after an MEC meeting is not your job. You may not write follow-up letters (you might sign them, but not write them!) and it is undoubtedly not your responsibility to write the minutes, etc. However, as a medical staff leader, you will want to know and participate in effective and clear communication to various constituencies about the important outcomes of an MEC meeting.

One of those constituencies is the hospital board. The board must be informed of MEC actions, and a well-prepared report to the board that summarizes MEC recommendations is critical to the board's understanding of what has been recommended and why. These recommendations include those related to credentialing (new appointments, reappointments, criteria for clinical privileges, etc.), policies (for example, a new policy on practitioner behavior), and other initiatives that indicate that the MEC is doing its job in leading the medical staff organization and addressing regulatory, patient safety and other important issues.

In addition, the MEC should communicate information to medical staff members. In the past, communication was based on the belief that department chairs (who attended MEC meetings) would go back to their respective departments and announce to the department members what transpired at MEC meetings. Or, the Chief of Staff would give a verbal report at the monthly general staff meeting. However, most medical staff members don't get together at general staff meetings or department meetings often enough to be able to rely on this type of verbal communication, so it is important for the MEC to communicate information directly to members.