The legislation mandates the Secretary of Health and Human Services to issue regulations ensuring due process rights for physicians prior to any termination, restriction, or reduction of their professional activities or staff privileges at hospitals.
Key requirements of the regulations include:
Physicians must be granted a fair hearing and appellate review through appropriate medical staff mechanisms before any adverse actions are taken regarding their hospital privileges.
Hearings or appellate reviews cannot be denied through third-party contracts.
Physicians cannot be asked or required to waive their rights to a hearing or appellate review as a condition of their employment, whether with the hospital directly or with a third-party contractor.
Any such hearing or appellate review must remain confidential and not reportable to any entity, including the National Practitioner Data Bank or future workplaces or employers, unless there is an ongoing threat to patient safety or as required under existing reporting obligations to the National Practitioner Data Bank.
The final regulations must be implemented no later than 18 months after the enactment of the Act.
