Ask the Expert: Who chooses the external peer review expert when a physician is under review?

If the hospital is considering an external peer review, it should share that information with the physician and ask for his or her cooperation. A formal peer review committee, senior administration, hospital or ambulatory facility leadership, or medical staff leadership should be responsible for approving the external peer review.

The chosen external reviewer does not have to be an individual acceptable to the physician under review. However, it is good practice to ask the physician under review to approve the external reviewer as long as such approval is not unreasonably withheld. Some institutions allow the physician to be reviewed to select the external peer review expert from two or three choices offered by the external peer review organization.