Bias is a common stumbling block to effective peer review. Bias can take a well-meaning committee that is truly focused on improvement and make it appear as if it is practicing sham peer review. At St. Anthony Hospital in Lakewood, Colorado the professional review committee is a multidisciplinary committee that represents the most active specialties of the medical staff; it also has representation from internal medicine and primary care. Over the years, changes to committee scoring have been implemented to help score more fairly and with less bias.

Each year, large numbers of physicians seek to return to practice after an extended voluntary absence from patient care. Others have never left practice but are requesting to expand/change their scope of practice and refresh skill sets they have not used in several years. Returning to practice or reengaging in specific practice areas can be a daunting process, both for physicians and for the hospitals where they seek to practice. ​In this 90-minute webinar, Elizabeth J. Korinek, MPH, and Sally Pelletier, CPMSM, CPCS, will address the unique challenges presented by physicians who have a gap in patient care or in experience with specific procedures or services. Attendees will become familiar with national reentry trends and learn strategies used to facilitate a successful transition onto clinical staff, as well as methods for monitoring physician practice to meet focused professional practice evaluation (FPPE) expectations.

As telehealth expands and technology improves, there are an increasing number of options for communication between healthcare providers and patients as well as between providers, but such services raise concerns for HIPAA compliance due to the method of transmission and issues of security compliance.