Hospital groups question medical staff rule from CMS
Several hospital groups are objecting to a CMS proposal that would “remove the ability of hospital systems and their medical staffs to make their own determinations about the optimal medical staff framework” and prevent integration of medical staffs in multihospital systems. The groups released a letter on April 8 asking that CMS provide a convincing reason for the necessity of the policy. The groups argue that individual hospital systems are best able to determine whether to have an integrated medical staff or to have separate medical staff at each facility, and that CMS should not regulate this.
The groups also point to the potential patient safety benefits of an integrated medical staff and the burden that would be placed on existing integrated medical staffs if required to break those into separate medical staffs. The American Hospital Association, the Association of American Medical Colleges, the Federation of American Hospitals, the Children’s Hospital Association, and the National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems all signed the letter.
Source: Fierce Healthcare