Whistleblower hospital president suing health system

A physician and former hospital president is suing Tenet Healthcare and Detroit Medical Center (DMC). Ted Schreiber, MD, claims he was forced out of his job at DMC Heart Hospital in October for reporting quality of care issues. 

Schreiber alleges he raised concerns about multiple issues during DMC peer review meetings, including physician competency and unnecessary surgeries performed on patients by other physicians. He says executives ignored his concerns and instead reliated against him for being a whistleblower.

"[T]he profitability of physicians was being weighed more heavily by DMC and Tenet executives than the physicians' ability to provide services to patients within the standard of care," the complaint states, according to The Detroit News. "This policy resulted in an increase in unnecessary and/or risky procedures conducted by some physicians leading to bad patient outcomes and even patient deaths."

Dr. Schreiber is one of four cardiologists who claims they were removed from a leadership position at the hospital for bringing up quality of care concerns. DMC issued a statement saying the physicians violated its Standards of Conduct, which is why they were removed from their respective positions. 

Source: Becker's Hospital Review