Physician credentialing disputes often involve and may depend upon proof of “unequal treatment.” These situations arise when hospitals allege certain substandard performance or conduct by physicians, but the physician’s defense is that they are no different than anyone of the physicians, that the issues are common and that they are being discriminated against. In order to prove
Health Care Quality Improvement Act
Fundamental Fairness Trumps Technical Violations of Bylaws
By Michael Cassidy on
Posted in Credentialing and Peer Review
In Ramamurthy v. JFK Medical Center and Solaris Health System the Appellate Division of the Superior Court of New Jersey affirmed a summary judgment dismissing Dr. Ramamurthy’s Petition for Injunctive Relief, which sought a court order prohibiting a suspension imposed by the hospital. Dr. Ramamurthy had argued at the trial court level that the hospital had…
Montana Physician Obtains Injunction Preventing National Practitioner Data Bank Report
By Michael Cassidy on
Posted in Credentialing and Peer Review
The Montana Supreme Court held in John Doe, M.D. v. Community Medical Center that the Health Care Quality Improvement Act (HCQIA) does not preempt state law regarding injunction and breach of contract, thereby allowing the lower court to issue an injunction against Community Medical Center prohibiting it from issuing a Data Bank report regarding the…
Ad Hoc Medical Staff Committees Protected by HCQIA
By Michael Cassidy on
Posted in Credentialing and Peer Review
In Feller v. Miriam Hospital, the Rhode Island Superior Court provides additional guidance regarding immunity protection pursuant to the Health Care Quality Improvement Act (HCQIA).
In that case, Dr. Joseph Feller was practicing at Miriam Hospital in Rhode Island. He encountered some disciplinary issues in 2002 and agreed to both monitoring by a hospital appointed…
HCQIA Immunity Requires Due Process
By Michael Cassidy on
Posted in Credentialing and Peer Review
In Hussein vs. Duncan Regional Hospital, United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma denied immunity under the Health Care Quality Improvement Act (HCQIA) to Duncan Regional Hospital because it terminated a physician’s privileges and reported him to the National Practitioners Data Bank (NPDB) without providing notice or an opportunity to be…
Hospital Obtains Summary Judgment on HCQIA and Free Speech Claims
By Michael Cassidy on
Posted in Credentialing and Peer Review
A physician in Knoxville, Tennessee, Dr. Abu-Hatab, sued Blount Memorial Hospital alleging that his medical staff membership and clinical privileges had been terminated and retaliation for exercising his First Amendment right of free speech regarding complaints about medical care in the hospital. The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee granted summary judgment…