Requests for leaves of absence have become more common in recent years, and it is important for medical staffs to have clear policies regarding their use. A member of the medical staff may request a leave of absence for personal reasons (e.g., the birth of a child, illness of a family member,...
If organizations merely address legalities in their contracts with physicians and fail to define expectations, they almost guarantee that the physician employment contract is only worth the paper that it is written on. In the contract, the employer must reinforce the behaviors it expects of...
Healthcare providers are taking on increased risk under accountable care models like the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Pathways to Success plan to overhaul the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP). To ensure the success of value-based initiatives, leadership teams have...
Medical staff policies generally allow a medical staff member to obtain, for good cause, a voluntary leave of absence (LOA). However, a practitioner’s LOA that exceeds the maximum time limit specified in the medical staff policies constitutes a voluntary resignation of medical staff membership...
According to the Federation of State Medical Board’s biennial census, there were nearly 1 million licensed physicians in the United States in 2018. Since 2010, the average age of U.S. physicians has increased from 50.7 years old to 51.5 years old. While this seems to reflect only a slight...
According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, the U.S. is expected to experience a physician shortage of between 42,600 and 121,300 physicians by the end of the next decade. This shortage will be due in part to increasing demand for medical care from a large aging population as well...