Physician and Patient Safety Act
The Physician and Patient Safety Act would require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to issue final regulations that guarantee due process for physicians who have medical staff privileges at hospitals. Specifically, before any termination, restriction, or reduction of a physician’s professional activity or staff privileges, the physician must have a fair hearing and appellate review through appropriate medical staff mechanisms. The regulations would prohibit denying a hearing via third-party contracts, prevent employers from requiring a waiver of hearing rights as a condition of employment, and keep such hearings confidential unless patient safety concerns or NPDB reporting requirements apply. The final regulations must take effect within 18 months of enactment. In short, the bill aims to safeguard physicians’ due process rights in discipline or privilege-termination processes, with limited confidentiality protections and a defined timeline for compliance.
Key Points
- 1Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to issue final regulations ensuring a fair hearing and appellate review for physicians with hospital medical staff privileges before adverse actions on their professional activity or privileges.
- 2Regulations may not allow a hearing to be denied through a third-party contract.
- 3Physicians cannot be required to waive their right to a hearing or appellate review as a condition of employment (with the hospital or any third-party contractor).
- 4Hearings and appellate reviews must be confidential and not reportable to entities such as the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB) or future employers, unless there is an ongoing threat to patient safety or as required by NPDB reporting rules.
- 5Effective date: regulations must take effect no later than 18 months after enactment.