In the news: Hospitals not making board certification a requirement for privileges

A new study in Archives of Surgery suggest that hospitals do not consistently require physicians to be board certified to receive privileges. Out of the 109 hospitals that were surveyed, only 5% required surgeons to be board certified when they received initial privileges. In addition, 82% of all hospitals surveyed allowed surgeons ad non-surgical subspecialists to retain privileges after their board certification expired. What do you think this says about the use of board certification to prove physician competence? Please e-mail me at ejones@hcpro.com with your thoughts.