"I recently represented a physician in a noteworthy peer review case at an academic medical center. The medical staff president initiated a complaint against a surgeon, who would later become my client. The complaint was that the surgeon inappropriately collected cash payment from an uninsured patient at the hospital’s point of service instead of having his office invoice and collect payment from the patient. The medical staff felt this was unorthodox and highly inappropriate and contra to the medical center’s values. It is important to note that neither the medical staff bylaws nor any hospital rules addressed the collection of payment at the hospital’s point of service. The medical staff president quickly appointed a three-member ad hoc investigation committee, which included one of the surgeon’s competitors, an obvious conflict of interest. The ad hoc investigation committee recommended that the surgeon be disciplined, i.e., lose his medical staff privileges."

Barney Cohen is a health care law attorney.

He shares his story and discusses his KevinMD article, "How this surgeon beat a medical staff disciplinary action." (https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2020/12/how-this-surgeon-beat-a-medical-staff-disciplinary-action.html)