California Bill Guides Hospitals in Reporting Impaired Practitioners

Harwell says the vast majority of physicians who participate in rehabilitation programs successfully return to practice. "I really don't like the idea that there isn't some centralized process of seeing that this is done and it is now left to the individual hospitals," he says.

Harwell explains that medical staffs will still be permitted to refer physicians to medical staff-run physician wellness committees without having to report to the Medical Board of California. However, if certain physicians do not benefit from the wellness committee's guidance, the only other option is to report those physicians to the medical board.

One of the biggest barriers that prevent physicians struggling with substance abuse or mental health disorders from seeking help is their fear that their condition will not be kept confidential. Under most state laws, any information unearthed by a medical staff peer review committee investigation is kept confidential, and Whitney says any investigations conducted by the Medical Board of California will also be done with an eye to privacy. "Once we file any kind of disciplinary action, that is no longer confidential, but certainly the investigation is confidential," she says.

Liz Jones is an associate editor with HCPro. She writes Medical Staff Briefing, Hospitalist Leadership Advisor, and co-writes Credentialing and Peer Review Legal Insider.She can be reached at ejones@hcpro.com.