The Medical Staff Leaders' Practical Guide

You are a great clinician. But do you have the tools to become a great leader?

Physicians who accept or are assigned leadership positions are too often left on their own to develop leadership skills and educate themselves on their responsibilities as medical staff leaders. These physicians may be great clinicians and enthusiastic about taking a leadership position, but neither of these characteristics automatically makes a great leader. Get practical answers for physicians in leadership. The Medical Staff Leaders’ Practical Guide, Sixth Edition provides direction for physician leaders in hospitals—those who remain primarily clinicians, but who also accept positions of leadership in the hospital or medical staff organization. It gives an overview of physician leaders’ roles and responsibilities in credentialing, privileging, bylaws development, performance improvement, physician management, and board/physician relations.

Completely revamped and updated, this essential resource for medical staff leaders includes:
• Tools and information needed to fulfill leadership responsibilities for all medical staff leaders, including directors of medical staff offices, vice presidents of medical affairs, medical staff presidents, credentials committee chairs and members, and committee and department chairs
• Expanded analysis and strategies for overcoming current medical staff leadership challenges, including merger issues, medical staff development plans, physician practice evaluations, assessing and improving clinical competence, and more
• Guidance and how-to advice on creating a positive medical staff culture, minimizing distrust or conflict, and improving policies
• Tips and insights from experienced medical staff leaders currently working in hospitals How do you keep up with evolving roles? As relationships continue to evolve between hospitals and medical staff, it is especially important for physician leaders to be well-educated about credentialing, privileging, conflicts of interest, medical staff organization, the roles of various physician leaders and committees, performance improvement, and more.

This practical guide includes in-depth reviews of the top five medical staff leadership responsibilities:
• Medical staff structure and governance
• Credentialing and privileging
• Peer review and performance improvement
• Hospital-medical staff collaboration
• Medical staff culture

Rise to the challenge of leadership!
Written by experienced medical staff leaders currently working in hospitals, The Medical Staff Leaders’ Practical Guide, Sixth Edition, gives physicians the tools they need to meet the challenges of a leadership role. The tools and advice in this guide will help you:
• Overcome physician apathy, poor meeting attendance, lack of volunteers for leadership positions, and turf battles
• Improve peer review, evaluation of physician competency, and physician/hospital relations
• Deal with disruptive and impaired physicians, conflicts of interest, exclusive contract problems, accreditation challenges, and emergency department coverage challenges
• Create a positive working environment
• Gain a better understanding of the credentialing and privileging process

Take a look at the table of contents:
Introduction: Today's Effective Medical Staff

Section I: Medical Staff Structure and Governance
• Physician apathy
• Poor meeting attendance
• Poor medical staff communication
• Unprepared leaders
• Lack of volunteers for leadership positions
• Conflict over member rights and responsibilities

Section II: Credentialing and Privileging
• Cumbersome and lengthy process
• Turf battles
• New technology privileges
• AHP credentialing and supervision
• Information and decision errors
• Lack of reappointment data
• Unnecessary, lengthy, or costly fair hearings
• Lack of criteria for privileges

Section III: Peer Review and Performance Improvement
• Ineffective peer review
• Disruptive conduct
• Impaired physicians
• Assessing and improving clinical competence
• Excessive utilization
• Medical records completion
• Inappropriate physician practice evaluation

Section IV: Hospital-Medical Staff Collaboration
• Strained physician-hospital relations
• EMTALA and ED coverage
• Hospital-physician competition
• Economic credentialing
• Strained physician-nurse relationships
• Costs exceeding reimbursement
• Medical errors and patient safety
• Ineffective medical staff influence with board and administration
• Liability risk
• Conflicts of interest
• Exclusive contract problems
• Corporate compliance challenges
• Accreditation challenges
• Merger challenges
• Lack of effective medical staff development plan

Who will benefit from this book?
Directors of medical staff offices, vice presidents of medical affairs, medical staff presidents, credentials committee chairs and members, committee and department chairs