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Joint Commission puts spotlight on conflict resolution in latest draft of MS.01.01.01

Medical Staff Briefing, March 1, 2010

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The requirement for hospitals to develop a formal process to address conflicts between the medical staff and MEC is a new addition to the proposed standard, says Ann O’Connell, Esq., with the Sacramento, CA office of Nossaman, LLP. O'Connell has served for the past year and a half on the MS.01.01.01 task force. According to The Joint Commission's "Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Standard MS.01.01.01," available as of press time at http://tinyurl.com/MS010101FAQ, the task force consisted of physicians, hospital CEOs, trustees, and healthcare attorneys and met 12 times between January 2008 and March 2009.

O'Connell says that the task force sought to include a conflict resolution requirement to address a perceived tension between the medical staff and MEC. "There is a perception held by some that the medical staff leadership is getting a little co-opted by hospital administration, partly attributable to the fact that hospitals are entering into more contracts with physicians."

Some in the field think that the requirement will only apply to a small minority of medical staffs. Cairns says, "My guess is that this is going to be an infrequently used element of performance because most medical staffs aren’t that far off track with their medical executive committees."

This is an excerpt from a member only article. To read the article in its entirety, please login or subscribe to Medical Staff Briefing.

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