Called Before a Peer Review or Medical Staff Disciplinary Proceeding? Don't Try to Go It Alone!
Are you a physician or other healthcare professional who has been called before a Peer Review Committee or a Medical Staff Panel at a hospital where you have privileges, at a group practice, or elsewhere? You may think to yourself, “Hey – I didn’t do anything wrong! I just need to show up, tell my side of the story, and everything will be OK!” Nothing could be farther from the truth! These sorts of proceedings almost always arise due to a complaint, whether from a patient, a patient’s family, a colleague, an employee, an administrator, or another source. They are serious matters, and before you walk into a room to face such a panel, you need to know EXACTLY what the complaint against you is, what evidence is to be offered against you, what witnesses will show up, and what they will say, among other things. Without a full airing of this information, it is impossible for you to even begin to try to defend yourself.
The best way to prepare to defend yourself in one of these proceedings is to hire competent healthcare counsel to represent you. Counsel can make sure you receive all the pre-hearing information to which you are entitled, so your case can be evaluated, and all potential avenues of defense explored. This is vitally important, as an adverse outcome will not only affect your status at the organization conducting the hearing, but will also be reported to the National Practitioner Data Bank (if you’ve seen past newsletters, you’ve seen many references to the Data Bank and the negative outcomes which come from incidents being reported to it), which report will be available to state licensing boards, hospitals, employers and potential employers, insurance carriers, and elsewhere, and can have an enormous negative impact upon your career far beyond the results of the hearing.
If you would like a consultation on this or any legal matter, do not hesitate to contact Scaringi Law at 717-657-7770.