A New Jersey physician faces four-to-nine years in prison after pleading guilty this week to second-degree manslaughter in the fentanyl-related overdose death of a patient. Under a plea deal reached with New York State prosecutors, Barry S. Sloan, MD, of Fort Lee, New Jersey, will also surrender his New York State medical license. The 61-year-old physician had no prior criminal record before entering the plea.

Overreacting to a letter of complaint from a member of your medical staff may simply exacerbate a situation. Consider the following: A frustrated medical staff member writes a long letter to the chief of staff demanding that the medical staff bylaws be amended to eliminate the malpractice insurance requirement. The letter explains the increasing unfairness of the malpractice situation for hard-working physicians and the collusion between the medical executive committee (MEC) and the board of directors, "which must be illegal and immoral siding with the enemy."

HCPro is currently seeking speakers to present at the 2020 Credentialing Resource Center Symposium, to be held April 20-21 in New Orleans. We seek speakers to present on all aspects of credentialing, privileging, and medical staff functions across any healthcare setting. Please click this link to apply: https://app.keysurvey.com/f/1418095/8b5b/

Calling all provider enrollment specialists and professionals—We want to hear from you! Join us for a focus group call on Thursday, August 29 at 1pm ET to discuss the 2020 National Provider Enrollment Forum. Whether you're a past attendee or new to the provider enrollment field, we want to know what you're most interested in learning about, what challenges you're currently facing, and how we can best meet your provider enrollment needs at the 2020 Forum. As a thank you for participating in the focus group, all callers will recieve a complimentary webinar. Email Associate Editor Karla Accorto at kaccorto@hcpro.com for more information or to RSVP.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Appellate District of California (the “Court”) upheld a trial court’s denial of Riverside County’s (the “County”) special motion to strike the Respondents’ pleading, finding that the activity in question was not considered protected speech, and therefore, the County could not invoke the anti-SLAPP statute.