Medical Staff

Tip of the week: Include meeting attendance and quorum requirements in your medical staff bylaws

Medical Staff Leader Connection, November 11, 2010

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Medical staffs that try to enforce attendance requirements usually find it a frustrating endeavor. Few are willing to remove a physician from the staff for failing to meet medical staff meeting requirements. Although The Joint Commission does not require meeting attendance, it does hold medical staffs responsible for enforcing any requirements it places in its bylaws. Therefore, some medical staffs have revised their bylaws to minimize attendance requirements, even while medical staff leaders continue to seek ways to encourage participation in meetings. Most medical staffs acknowledge that they cannot mandate attendance, especially if the physicians don’t find the meetings useful.

Although The Joint Commission no longer requires medical staff members to attend a certain percentage of meetings, the Healthcare Facilities Accreditation Program (HFAP) still states that active staff members are expected to attend staff, department/service, and committee meetings. If your organization is HFAP-accredited, it must maintain attendance and quorum language in the medical staff bylaws.

This week’s tip is from The Greeley Guide to Medical Staff Bylaws, Third Edition, by Mary J. Hoppa, MD, CMSL.
 



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