Medical Staff

Avoid clinical service line pitfalls with a solid membership model

Medical Staff Briefing, March 1, 2010

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

Last month, I wrote about a problem many organizations face when implementing clinical service lines. The way many clinical service lines are currently structured, it is unclear who owns the responsibility of ensuring physician performance—the organized medical staff, through its relevant departments and sections, or the medical director.

Consider this scenario: Dr. Jones, a physician member of the cardiovascular service line, is the subject of an incident report alleging unprofessional conduct. Dr. Smith, the service line medical director, investigates the complaint and prepares to intervene. Dr. Jones challenges Dr. Smith’s authority, claiming that the review of his performance is an organized medical staff activity that should be handled by Dr. Brown, the elected medical staff president. The solution to this challenge depends on how the organization determines membership in the clinical service line.

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

Most Popular

Related Articles