Tip of the week: Allow objections to fair hearing panel members

Even if you have tried to be objective when choosing a hearing panel, you might not know that Dr. X and a panel member were partners 10 years ago and had a bitter falling-out. That is why you give physicians an opportunity to object, says Michael Callahan, an attorney at Katten Muchin Rosenman in Chicago.

If Dr. X objects to the appointment of a panel member, he or she needs to provide the committee responsible for appointing panel members with adequate justification. The committee chair will decide whether the objection is valid and determine whether the committee should remove the individual in question from the panel.

“As a general rule, the committee should abide by the physician’s request, but sometimes you will see physicians objecting for no reason,” Callahan says. He explains that Dr. X may object to a panel member he or she knows has no tolerance for deviations in performance, but notes that, “of course, that kind of objection would be denied.”

Hospitals that offer physicians an opportunity to object to panel members are protecting themselves in the long run, Callahan says. If Dr. X was given the opportunity to object, he cannot try to overturn the hospital’s decision to terminate his or her privileges by claiming the panel was biased.

This week’s question and answer are from A Practical Guide to Managing Disruptive and Impaired Physicians.