Constant advances in medical research, technology, education, and consumer demand for healthcare organizations to offer new and innovative procedures have increased dramatically in the past several years-a trend that isn't likely to end anytime soon! As a result, the medical executive committee must determine how to respond to practitioners' requests to perform procedures and treatments that the institution has not previously offered. These organizations do not have internal outcome data or other performance measures to help them determine which practitioners are qualified to perform the new procedure or treatment.

The president of the Oklahoma State Medical Association is lobbying state lawmakers to fund more residency positions. Larry Bookman, MD, says that increasing the number of residencies in the state will hopefully increase the number of physicians practicing in the state.

The objective of this policy is to promote optimal patient care by promoting a safe, cooperative, and professional healthcare environment by preventing or eliminating, to the extent possible, behavior that disrupts the efficient and effective operation of the hospital.

Effective meetings rely on a well-planned agenda. Standing meetings often include the same agenda items each month, which aids the planning process; any follow-up from previous meetings should also be included. The chair of each committee must sign off on the agenda prior to each scheduled committee meeting. Getting committee chairs to review and approve the agenda can be challenging because committee chairs are notoriously busy. Persistence is required, but “the meeting before the meeting” is essential.

Most medical staff bylaws contain a provision concerning the categories into which the medical staff will be divided. In fact, many medical staffs have created an unnecessarily complex array of categories. Many of these categories were created 20–30 years ago as medical staffs tried to accommodate new and, at that time, unique physician situations. However, as time went on, these accommodations were never updated to reflect current realities, thus leaving many staffs with a patchwork of overlapping and often contradictory staff categories.

A Massachusetts District Court (the “Court”) denied the motion to dismiss put forth by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Massachusetts General Physicians Organization, and Partners Healthcare System (collectively, “Defendants”). Defendants based the motion on the plaintiff’s failure to state a claim; however, the Court disagreed, finding that improperly billing Medicare and Medicaid for overlapping surgeries constitutes fraud under the False Claims Act (FCA).

Plus, anesthesiologist billed $7 million for fraudulent telemedicine services, nurses in Tennessee fight for less physician oversight, and District Court in Oregon approves $74 million settlement after Premera Blue Cross breach. Find out what’s happening in the world of federal healthcare regulations by reviewing some recent headlines from across the country.