Claims for negligent credentialing are a natural extension of the doctrine of institutional negligence of hospitals under Darling v. Charleston Memorial Hospital, 33 Ill. 2d 326 (1965). To establish a claim for negligent credentialing the plaintiff must prove that:
The hospital failed to exercise reasonable care in granting staff membership or clinical privileges to a physician;
The negligently privileged or credentialed physician treated the plaintiff negligently; and,
The hospital’s negligent credentialing of the negligent physician was the proximate cause of the plaintiff’s injury.
Typically, eligibility for core privileges in emergency medicine includes:
Current certification or active participation in the examination process leading to certification in emergency medicine by the American Board of Emergency Medicine or the American Osteopathic Board of Emergency Medicine.
Successful completion of an ACGME- or AOA-accredited residency training program in emergency medicine; and for those physicians 2 or more years post residency or fellowship or for whom a residency in emergency medicine was not available at the time of graduation from medical school.
Documentation of active practice in an emergency department setting.
Emergency medicine privileges typically include:
Assess, evaluate, diagnose and initially treat patients of all ages except as specifically excluded from practice who present in the ED with any symptom, illness, injury or condition and provide services necessary to ameliorate minor patients to determine if additional care is necessary. Privileges may also include invasive and non-invasive procedures as moderate sedation, ultrasonography, lumbar puncture, nasogastric tube, paracentesis, etc., for diagnostic and treatment services.
Negligent credentialing medical expert witness specialties include hospital administration and emergency medicine.