Great to see you at NAMSS!

Dear medical staff services professionals and medical staff leaders,

Last week, I had the pleasure of attending the National Association of Medical Staff Services (NAMSS) conference in Milwaukee, WI. I hope those of you who attended had a chance to discover some of the many gems throughout Milwaukee, such as the bronze statute of The Fonze from the television show “Happy Days” and the Harley Davidson Museum.

I was so pleased to meet some Medical Staff Briefing (MSB) readers in person and hear their thoughts regarding what hot-button topics I should cover in upcoming issues.

When I attended “How the Joint Commission Leadership Standards Affect the Medical Staff,” presented by Christina Giles, CPMSM, MS, president of  Medical Staff Solutions in Nashua, NH, it became clear that disruptive physician behavior is a major concern for many of you (The session was so popular that there was standing room only!). As soon as Giles began to address disruptive physician behavior, many of the heads in the room began nodding in agreement.

One of the first steps toward eliminating disruptive behavior is for the medical staff to set behavioral expectations for physicians. According to A Practical Guide to Preventing and Solving Disruptive Physician Behavior by Richard A. Sheff, MD and Todd Sagin, MD, JD, the best way to cultivate physician buy-in to behavioral expectations is to involve physicians in designing them.

The following is sample language that may be included in a set of behavior expectations.

Physicians shall act in a professional, respectful manner at all times, including times of disagreement, and shall refrain from behavior that generates complaints from fellow members of the medical staff, the hospital staff, patients, and patients’ families, including, but not limited to, the following:

• Disruptive behavior in meetings, such as repeatedly interrupting other speakers, speaking in a loud, threatening tone, or undermining the group’s ability to address its task
• Impulsive, disruptive, sexually harassing, or disrespectful behavior with fellow members of the medical staff, the hospital staff, patients, and family members

To learn more about proactively managing disruptive physician behavior, join HCPro on November 17, when it presents the audio conference Managing Disruptive Physicians: Strategies to Ensure a Culture of Safety. Speakers Jonathan Burroughs, MD, FACPE, CPE, FACEP, CMSL, a senior consultant with The Greeley Company, and Tracy G. Sanson, MD, FACEP, associate professor at the University of South Florida, will teach listeners to:

• Address problem behavior in your credentialing and privileging process
• Set expectations for appropriate behavior
• Develop measurable indicators and benchmarks
• Use perception data to provide timely, constructive feedback
• Manage marginal or poor conduct, both long and short term

Listeners will also receive sample code of conduct, disruptive physician, and impaired physician policies they can adapt to fit their facility’s needs.

If you have additional ideas for articles you’d like to see in MSB or there are topics you’d like to learn more about, please feel free to e-mail me.

Best regards,
Elizabeth Jones
Associate editor
HCPro, Inc.