When preparing for medical staff or committee meetings, the first form you should consider developing is a meeting checklist to help you ensure all preparations are made.

Critical access hospitals (CAH) that are accredited by The Joint Commission (TJC) will now have the option to create a single, unified medical staff if they are part of a multihospital system. TJC has created a new standard in the Medical Staff chapter, MS.01.01.05, which states, “Multihospital systems can choose to establish a unified and integrated medical staff in accordance with state and local laws.”

Last December, The Joint Commission (TJC) announced it would be eliminating the term “licensed independent practitioner” (LIP) from its standards. The TJC glossary previously stated the following definition for an LIP: “An individual permitted by law and by the organization to provide care, treatment, and services without direction or supervision. A licensed independent practitioner operates within the scope of their license, consistent with individually granted clinical privileges.”

Find out what’s happening in the world of federal healthcare regulations by reviewing some recent headlines from across the country.

• Plastic suregon charged with murder
• Teen posed as physician assistant
• Dermatologist indicted for poisoning husband
• Family physician surrenders license over graphic notes