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I just got this memo from my hospital that any physician on staff 70 y.o. or older will now be subject to a mental and physical exam in order to continue to maintain privileges.
POLICY:
It is the policy of *** that any practitioner who is 70 years of age or older (for purposes of this policy, a “late career practitioner”) and who applies to the Medical Staff for appointment with clinical privileges will, as part of the application process, be subject to a clinical skills assessment and a comprehensive health screening that addresses his/her capacity to safely and competently perform the clinical privileges requested, discharge the responsibilities of Medical Staff membership, and work collaboratively in a hospital setting. Practitioners who are currently on the medical staff with clinical privileges and who are 70 years of age or older will be required to undergo this evaluation every two years. This will normally occur with the first reappointment cycle after the appointee reaches age 70 and every two years thereafter. In addition, the hospital’s Medical Staff Credentials Committee (“Credentials Committee”) may request that any practitioner on the medical staff regardless of age complete this evaluation. The clinical skills assessment and health screening described in this policy must indicate that the practitioner has no detected problem(s) that might affect his/her capacity to safely and competently exercise clinical privileges, discharge Medical Staff responsibilities or work cooperatively in the hospital setting. Otherwise, concerns identified by the evaluation with respect to any such matters will be assessed along with other pertinent factors by the applicable Department Chair/Service Chief (hereafter Service Chief) and the Credentials Committee in formulating their recommendations regarding appointment and clinical privileges to the Medical Executive Committee (hereafter MEC) as provided in the hospital’s Medical Staff Bylaws. The Service Chief and the Credentials Committee may request additional information for further evaluation if they determine it to be necessary to assist in making their recommendations
I’m nowhere even close to reaching retirement, but I went ahead and called our credentialing dept. and inquired about this. She mentioned it is not something unique to our hospital. She has gone to various meetings across the country about this; and, although there are mixed feelings, more and more hospitals are implementing some type of ‘Late career practioner’ policy. In addition, there is a growing body of literature supporting the ability of a physician to handle medical duties and a correlation with age.
If there’s one specialty that would be most subjected to this, its Pathology, as we have the highest average retirement age among all doctors. I then asked what the mental & physical assessment consisted of, she mentioned it was given by a primary care doc who would ask you some basic questions.
For example: “In the following pictures of animals, can you tell the difference between a tiger and a bear?”
Easier than boards…right? But, better start studying, who knows how much we’ll have left in the noggin at 70!🧠
POLICY:
It is the policy of *** that any practitioner who is 70 years of age or older (for purposes of this policy, a “late career practitioner”) and who applies to the Medical Staff for appointment with clinical privileges will, as part of the application process, be subject to a clinical skills assessment and a comprehensive health screening that addresses his/her capacity to safely and competently perform the clinical privileges requested, discharge the responsibilities of Medical Staff membership, and work collaboratively in a hospital setting. Practitioners who are currently on the medical staff with clinical privileges and who are 70 years of age or older will be required to undergo this evaluation every two years. This will normally occur with the first reappointment cycle after the appointee reaches age 70 and every two years thereafter. In addition, the hospital’s Medical Staff Credentials Committee (“Credentials Committee”) may request that any practitioner on the medical staff regardless of age complete this evaluation. The clinical skills assessment and health screening described in this policy must indicate that the practitioner has no detected problem(s) that might affect his/her capacity to safely and competently exercise clinical privileges, discharge Medical Staff responsibilities or work cooperatively in the hospital setting. Otherwise, concerns identified by the evaluation with respect to any such matters will be assessed along with other pertinent factors by the applicable Department Chair/Service Chief (hereafter Service Chief) and the Credentials Committee in formulating their recommendations regarding appointment and clinical privileges to the Medical Executive Committee (hereafter MEC) as provided in the hospital’s Medical Staff Bylaws. The Service Chief and the Credentials Committee may request additional information for further evaluation if they determine it to be necessary to assist in making their recommendations
I’m nowhere even close to reaching retirement, but I went ahead and called our credentialing dept. and inquired about this. She mentioned it is not something unique to our hospital. She has gone to various meetings across the country about this; and, although there are mixed feelings, more and more hospitals are implementing some type of ‘Late career practioner’ policy. In addition, there is a growing body of literature supporting the ability of a physician to handle medical duties and a correlation with age.
If there’s one specialty that would be most subjected to this, its Pathology, as we have the highest average retirement age among all doctors. I then asked what the mental & physical assessment consisted of, she mentioned it was given by a primary care doc who would ask you some basic questions.
For example: “In the following pictures of animals, can you tell the difference between a tiger and a bear?”
Easier than boards…right? But, better start studying, who knows how much we’ll have left in the noggin at 70!🧠
