Negligent Selection and Retention of Physicians

Negligent Selection and Retention of Physicians

What is the duty of a hospital to ensure that the physicians working there are competent? Can a hospital be held liable for acts done by an incompetent physician if the physician is not employed by the hospital but merely has hospital privileges? What happens when a once competent physician's performance declines?

Hospitals have a duty to their patients to provide only competent physicians to care for the patients. If a hospital breaches this duty, it can be held liable for negligence. The duty to select and retain only competent physicians places a burden on hospitals to ensure that physicians are properly trained and licensed. To do this, hospitals are required to make a reasonable inquiry into the background, education, and training of physicians employed by the hospital or granted privileges to treat patients at the hospital. "Credentialing" is the term used to describe the process of review and verification of the information of a health care provider who is interested in becoming affiliated with or employed by a hospital.

As stated above, a hospital can be held liable for its independent negligence in failing to exercise care in the selection, credentialing, and retention of qualified physicians. This can come in the form of a "negligent selection" or a "negligent retention" suit. Some courts allow claims of negligent selection or retention based on a theory of "corporate negligence."

Corporate negligence is a doctrine under which a hospital can be held liable if it fails to uphold the proper standard of care owed the patient, which is to ensure the patient's safety and well-being while at the hospital. This theory of liability creates a nondelegable duty that the hospital owes directly to a patient. For example, in one case, a North Carolina court held that a hospital was liable for corporate negligence for failing to ensure that a surgeon on its staff was qualified to perform surgery on a patient. The court reasoned that the hospital owed a duty of care to its patients to ascertain that a doctor is qualified to perform an operation before granting him the privilege to do so. Finding that the hospital breached this duty, the court found in favor of the hospital.

To prove a negligent retention or corporate liability case against a hospital, a plaintiff must show that the hospital breached its duty to the patient to provide competent physicians and that the breach caused the patient's injuries. In most cases, expert testimony would be required to prove a plaintiff's case. In some instances, however, such as when a hospital granted privileges to a "surgeon" who had not even attended medical school, the court has allowed the jury to determine that the hospital acted negligently in hiring and/or retaining the physician.

Copyright 2008 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.