HCQIA: Court Upholds Hospital's Revocation of Surgeon's Privileges for Performing Procedures outside of the Scope of His Clinical Privileges

​A Pennsylvania court of appeals upheld a hospital's revocation of a physician's clinical and admitting privileges after he performed certain procedures for which he had not been granted clinical privileges. The plaintiff, a board certified general surgeon, was approached by two patients who asked him to perform surgery to replace implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) generators. According to trial court papers, the patients approached the surgeon because the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had announced the recall of certain ICD devices. (Novak v. Somerset Hospital, et al. E.D. Pa., No. 07-cv-00304-DSC Document 186, Sept. 30, 2014.)

The surgeon did not have hospital privileges to implant or change ICD devices; nevertheless, he agreed to perform these surgeries. Just as he was about to begin the surgery, operating room staff contacted the chair of the hospital's credentials committee, who approved the procedures. However, the surgeon was unaware of the approval at the time he performed the surgeries. The surgeries were successful and no...