Polsinelli’s nationwide group of Health Care attorneys advise clients daily on all aspects of medical staff governance, operations and disputes. We have the depth, knowledge and experience to manage medical staff issues in any type of health care organization. Polsinelli’s Medical Staff team helps organizations promote patient safety by assisting the medical staff, administration and the governing body in meeting their responsibilities of overseeing quality of care.

Our Medical Staff attorneys regularly counsel and guide hospitals, academic medical centers, health systems, ambulatory surgical centers and large medical groups through all aspects of the medical staff governance process, organization and operations. Polsinelli attorneys partner with executives, Medical Staff leaders and Medical Staff professionals to develop and amend medical staff governance documents including, bylaws, rules and regulations, codes of conduct, policies and procedures, unification and systemization documents, credentialing and peer review policies, privilege criteria, telehealth protocols, disaster privileging and advanced practice professional management.

Polsinelli attorneys are well versed in the medical staff life cycle. Our medical staff services include advising during:

• The credentialing process
• Routine peer review
• Evaluating whether a practitioner is fit for duty
• A formal investigation regarding competence or professional conduct
• The fair hearing and appeal process
• The process of reporting to the National Practitioner Data Bank and state medical boards

Our medical staff team also counsels clients on regulatory and accreditation standards, hospital licensing, closing departments and medical staff, and creating peer review bodies for large medical groups. Our attorneys guide clients in developing processes for empowering practitioner health committees and managing impaired and aging providers.

Polsinelli’s Medical Staff team routinely provides leadership training to health care organization boards, medical executive committees and other peer review medical staff committees and can customize education for your organization. Polsinelli’s culture of service is reflected in our Medical Staff team’s commitment to our clients.

Each quarter, our attorneys nationally distribute the Med-Staff Newsletter which updates clients on the latest laws and court cases and shares ideas and best practices. Our shareholders also produce annually the Polsinelli webinar series “Medical Staff Leaders and Their Advisors: Managing Todays’ Challenges.”

The collective experience of our attorneys, and the ability of our Medical Staff team to call in attorneys with other areas of focus, positions Polsinelli uniquely from other health care firms. From Fraud and Abuse to Employment Law to Antitrust, Polsinelli’s Medical Staff team provides solution-oriented, practical advice to our clients managing challenging and complex issues.

Our areas of focus include:

• Medical staff governance documents
• Credentialing and recredentialing of practitioners
• Addressing employed vs credentialed practitioners
• Peer review of practitioner competence, conduct and wellness
• Hospital hearings and appeals
• National practitioner data bank and state medical board reporting
• Peer review privileges, protections and immunities
• Exclusive contracts and closed departments
• Medical staff litigation, state and federal courts
• Accreditation and regulatory compliance
• EMTALA and conditions of participation
• Multi-hospital systems; unification and systemization
• Academic medical centers
• Large medical groups
• Compliance and government investigations