Credentialing Corner

# Medical Staff Bylaws – Guide For Medical Provider Organization

- May 30, 2024
- Posted by Kristen Edwards

30 Oct

Previously, wrong recruitments of less qualified doctors were reported. It causes disturbance among the patients as they remain concerned about their health. There was no check and balance about granting jobs to doctors. It was very clear that the health system would deteriorate if no measures were taken. Therefore, medical staff bylaws are imposed to ensure quality hospital treatment.

It is always important for every healthcare organization to have qualified and skilled medical practitioners to provide the best treatment to the patients.

On the other hand, medical practitioners also want to know the privileges and authority in the healthcare organization to work within their known limits. Therefore, medical staff bylaws are implemented by each hospital’s governing body to ensure the treatment-providing process is clear. Hospitals and medical practitioners should always stick to these medical staff bylaws.

This article will discuss the medical staff bylaws’ role and impact on hospital credentialing. We will also learn about the medical staff bylaws requirements.

## What are Medical Staff Bylaws?

hospitalrecruiting.com

Medical staff bylaws are essential in providing quality treatment to patients. These bylaws govern the duties and actions of medical practitioners like doctors, dentists, nurses, etc. Hospitals follow these medical staff bylaws, which help hospitals have legal compliance with the regulatory authority, get reimbursement from the government on time, provide the best possible treatment to patients, and uphold the reputation of healthcare organizations. Medical staff bylaws are set and imposed by the regulatory healthcare authority, and in case of any issue, hospital administration will be answerable to the regulatory authority.

## Impacts of Bylaws on Hospital Credentialing

buzzfeed.com

Credentialing is a crucial step in granting jobs to medical practitioners. Credentialing is the process of verifying and checking all the documentation provided by the candidates for authenticity. Medical staff bylaws also ensure that qualified and verified doctors or other healthcare-providing staff are recruited. Medical staff bylaws make the credentialing process smooth and easy. Below are some impacts of bylaws on hospital credentialing:

### Enhancing Hospital Reputation

The hospital is known for the quality of treatment it provides. Bylaws ensure that the doctors are highly skilled and qualified. These things attract the patients to the bylaws-abiding healthcare institutes, increasing the fame of hospitals. It also attracts healthcare professionals to serve the people at well-known hospitals. Therefore, it is always better to follow all the protocols, like medical staff bylaws, to grow your healthcare-providing business.

### Patient’s Safety

Patient safety and health always remained the first and foremost concern for medical practitioners and hospitals. Bylaws that help credentialing ensure that all patients receive high-quality and best standard treatment. This factor bridges a gap between the patients and the doctors, which results in better recovery from the disease. Credentialing with the help of medical staff bylaws has successfully recruited qualified doctors.

### Compliance with Accreditation Protocols

The Joint Commission Healthcare Authority sets some standards every hospital needs to meet while granting jobs to medical practitioners. Bylaws help the hospitals meet these protocols by making things clear, like eligibility criteria for recruitment, privileges provided to the doctors, and the limit of decision-making authority.

### Accountability

Medical staff bylaws make all the rules and regulations for the doctors. Doctors become aware of their responsibilities and duties, which they have to perform if they become part of the institute. In case of carelessness the doctor shows, he will be accountable before the governing body, and penalty changes will also be acted upon. So, they get to know what the hospital administration expects from them and try to cope with all situations to meet the desired results.

### Legal Protection

Sometimes, patients start to blame the doctor for the disease or try to go to court for legal proceedings. The hospital, abiding with all the medical staff bylaws, has a strong defense. Hospitals and medical practitioners get protection from all legal penalties because the governing or regulatory authority verifies them, and they provide quality patient care. On the other hand, if the negligence of the hospital administration is involved in causing any damage to the patient, the penalties or legal liability will be reduced.

### Quality Assurance

These medical staff bylaws are established to provide quality healthcare to the community. Its prime focus was making the healthcare system free of negligence and uncertainty because human lives and health come above everything. Bylaws ensure quality treatment using all the necessary steps,

## Understanding Medical Staff Bylaws Requirements

eduvoice.in

Medical staff bylaws are not ordinary documents. These rules and regulations have legal importance, and all medical practitioners must adhere to them to enjoy the freedom of working in a healthcare institute. Knowing the components and requirements of medical staff bylaws is essential to abide by these rules.

### Legal Documentation

Bylaws are legal documents formed and assembled according to federal and state laws,

keeping in mind the credentialing and accreditation process of the hospitals. This legal framework. All the rules and regulations are made carefully, and an election is given. These legal rules and regulations are common for all state hospitals, and some rules vary from state to state.

### Regulatory Authority

According to the medical staff bylaws, a regulatory authority or governing body is made by the state healthcare department, which will oversee and check the healthcare-providing institutes. This authority comprises a board of trustees. This board will listen to all the cases related to the medical staff. They judge in case of any carelessness shown by the doctors or other paramedical staff.

### Membership Criteria

The main focus of the bylaws is to establish the membership criteria for joining the hospital. Bylaws define who is eligible to practice medicine in the hospital and what should be the qualifications of the candidate. Bylaws also set the rules like the license and work experience requirements to join the medical staff.

### Clinical Privileges

Bylaws define the clinical privileges provided to doctors while working in a hospital. This step ensures that the doctors are working only in the area of their expertise. Bylaws define the decision-making limit for doctors and other medical practitioners.

### Review Committee

Peer reviews are necessary to judge the working and professional behavior of the doctor towards their duty. Therefore, a review committee is made, and all the peers are supposed to show their presence in the committee and give their honest review. Then, the governing body will decide the faithfulness of the doctors towards their duty based on the reviews.

### Ethical Conduct

Following the ethical protocols is included in the oath of the doctors because of its high importance. Doctors should follow all ethical rules like informed consent, patient confidentiality, and other disciplinary protocols. In case of any violation, the governing body will deal with the doctor legally. Ethical protocols also enforce not to develop relationships with patients in hospital premises, not to receive expensive gifts from patients, and not to discriminate between rich and poor people.

## Role of Bylaws in the Medical Qualification Process

forum.facmedicine.com

Bylaws help in the medical qualification and credentialing process by assessing the authenticity of the documents provided by the candidate. Bylaws ensure that only highly skilled, qualified, and authentic people should get hospital jobs. Bylaws help in following some medical qualification steps:

- It helps in application review. When a candidate seeking a medical job applies in a hospital, he gives an application with all essential documents for credentialing. Bylaws help here because hospital staff review the application according to the rules and regulations set by the bylaws.
- After verifying the application and assessing the qualifications of candidates, Bylaws guide the hospital to recruit the doctor for the specific post and provide specific privileges.
- Medical staff bylaws also mention when to do the follow-up monitoring and re-credentialing of the medical practitioners.
- Medical staff bylaws guide and force the medical staff and hospitals to ensure the best treatment and patient care.
- Bylaws also force doctors to clear and disclose all financial conflicts, which can cause hindrances in providing patient care.

## Conclusion

Medical staff bylaws are a vital component of the credentialing process of medical practitioners. Medical staff bylaws are imposed to supervise the duties of doctors and hospitals. Bylaws are followed to improve the health system and keep the less-qualified and less-trained doctors out of the reach of patients. Medical staff bylaws are legal laws that help build a hospital’s reputation, enhance patients’ safety, assure quality care, and make doctors accountable in case of any rule violation.

Medical staff bylaws also provide legal protection and help in the accreditation process. If we discuss the bylaws requirements, the governing body and membership criteria come first on the list. Bylaws also stress having a peer review committee, which will help evaluate doctors’ professionalism. Bylaws have made it the governing body to make the judgment and resolve the conflict in any situation like a violation of ethical conduct or negligence in providing care to patients on time. In short, Medical staff bylaws are imposed to make the medical society worthy of saving humanity from many diseases. Therefore, these laws stress recruiting professionals for the post of medical practitioner.

Sidebar Scroll To Top