Major New Case Will Impact Credentialing

Posted below is an e-mail I received from Barbara Blackmond of Horty, Springer & Mattern regarding a case that she and Charlotte Jefferies will cover during the NAMSS Advanced Legal Workshop September 18th in Phoenix. Reprinted here with permission:

A federal court in Louisiana recently held that a Louisiana hospital had a duty to disclose information about their medical staff members to a hospital in Washington in order to protect future patients. Kadlec Med. Ctr. (E.D.La. May 19, 2005). The defendant hospital in that case informed the inquiring hospital that a particular physician had served on the staff for four years, but that, "due to the large volume of inquiries" received by its medical staff office, no further information could be provided.

The physician was appointed to the inquiring hospital's medical staff, but later was successfully sued for malpractice along with the hospital. The inquiring hospital came back against the hospital refusing to give a reference claiming that, had that hospital been more candid, the physician in question would never have been appointed and the adverse incident that triggered the suit would not have happened. The court let the suit go forward.

This case will have profound implications for hospitals throughout the country. Charlotte (Jefferies) and I will discuss the case in depth (at the NAMSS Advanced Legal Workshop).

Barbara Blackmond
Horty, Springer & Mattern
4614 Fifth Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
phone: 412-687-7677
fax: 412-687-7692
www.hortyspringer.com

Original case:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/165467_coma19.html