Sometimes, patients will need to be treated in the hospital.
In order for a physician to treat a patient in the hospital he or she must be
privileged in the hospital where he/she will treat the patient. When a
physician has hospital privileges it means that he/she is permitted to work in
a particular hospital. If a physician
works at more than one hospital, he or she has been granted privileges at each
hospital individually.
Privileges are granted when the physician applies and the
application is approved by a hospital board of directors. The hospital’s approval
process considers the physician’s education, continuing education, and ability
to practice medicine (mental and physical), reputation, licensing, and many
other factors. The physician must renew his/her periodically after the initial
acceptance by submitting another application and proof of continuing medical education (CME). The renewal requirements vary from hospital to hospital.
There are various levels of privilege that hospitals may
grant. The physician can also apply for different privilege levels. The names
of the privilege levels may vary slightly by hospital but these are the two
most common.
·
Admitting, full, unrestricted, attending: this privilege
level allows admission and treatment in the hospital.
·
Consulting: this level allows a physician to see
a patient in the hospital at the request of another physician who has full
privileges. Usually a consulting level physician cannot perform surgery in that
hospital without special approval from hospital officials.
Physicians in private practice do not get paid by the
hospital. Basically there is a “business to business” relationship between the
physician and the hospital; doctor A admits a patient into hospital Z and both
bill the insurance or the patient for their portions of the medical care.
On the other hand some doctors are hospital staff and do not
have a private practice outside of the hospital. Some examples of physicians
that may be hospital employed are the emergency room doctors, pathologists,
radiologists, anesthesiologists and a rather newly popularized specialty called
the hospitalist.
