Physician and Patient Safety Act

Full Title:
Physician and Patient Safety Act

Summary#

This bill would require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to write final regulations that make sure physicians with hospital medical staff privileges get a fair hearing and an appeal through medical staff procedures before any termination, restriction, or reduction of their professional activity or hospital privileges. The rules must say that hearings cannot be denied through a third-party contract, physicians cannot be forced to waive hearing or appeal rights as a condition of employment, and hearings must be confidential and not reportable to others (including the National Practitioner Data Bank) unless there is an ongoing patient-safety threat or an existing reporting requirement. The regulations must take effect no later than 18 months after the bill becomes law.

What it means for you#

  • If you are a physician with hospital staff privileges: the regulations would require hospitals to provide fair hearings and an appellate review through medical staff processes before reducing or ending your privileges, and you could not be required to waive those rights. Hearings would generally be confidential except for serious patient-safety threats or required reporting to the NPDB.
  • If you work for a hospital or third-party contractor that manages privileges: you would need to follow HHS regulations barring denial of hearings through third-party contracts and barring forced waivers of hearing rights.
  • If you follow federal rulemaking: HHS must publish final regulations and those regulations become effective within 18 months of enactment.

Expenses#

No publicly available information on costs, savings, or budget effects is included in the bill text or metadata provided.

Proponents' View#

The bill’s provisions focus on ensuring due process for physicians with hospital privileges by requiring fair hearings and appellate review through medical staff mechanisms, banning denial of hearings via third-party contracts, preventing forced waivers of hearing rights, and keeping such proceedings confidential except for ongoing patient-safety threats or required NPDB reporting.

Opponents' View#

No publicly available information on opposition views or counterarguments is included in the bill text or metadata provided.