Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
to jury duty). Such measures might enhance
compliance by reducing individuals' fears of
lost income, and also afford protection for the
rest of the workforce.
a. Would discharging an employee who is
absent because she is subject to quaran-
tine be deemed illegal as a public-policy
violation?
b. What is the outcome if extended hours
required of healthcare workers run up
against legal limits on the hours that physi-
cians and nurses can work consecutively?
c. Will payment be provided for tempo-
rary lodging, meals, or other incidental
expenses?
d. How will payroll and benefits be main-
tained?
4.
Credentialing Issues, Including Disaster Priv-
ileges
. Issues may arise regarding whether
a hospital or healthcare entity may allow
outside medical personnel to assist regular staff
during an emergency due to existing medical-
privileges requirements. JCAHO requires
hospitals to establish a procedure for verifying
credentials and granting privileges during and
after a disaster,
28
and has established proce-
dures for doing so. In addition, at the federal
level, the Secretary of the Department of
Health and Human Services is required to
establish a system for advance registration of
health professionals to provide for verifica-
tion of credentials, licenses, accreditations, and
hospital privileges when such professionals
volunteer during a public health emergency.
29
a. Has the appropriate state or local jurisdic-
tion adopted regulations regarding the use
of disaster privileges during an emergency
situation? Do such regulations provide
immunity for granting or denying such
disaster privileges, or for providing care
after being granted such privileges?
b. Does the chief executive officer (CEO),
medical staff president, or another offi-
cial have the option to grant disaster privi-
leges pursuant to JCAHO standards? Does
the institution have a document that dele-
gates this responsibility to the Incident
Commander as the designee if the desig-
nated official is not physically available
during the disaster?
c. Who has been designated in writing to
grant disaster privileges? Has the organiza-
tion specified such individual's duties, as
well as a mechanism to manage the activi-
ties of healthcare practitioners who receive
disaster privileges (and to readily iden-
tify such individuals)? Will the designated
individual treat the verification process as
a high priority? Is this position identi-
fied in the emergency management plan
and/or otherwise accessible to the Incident
Commander in an emergency?
d. Does the medical staff have a mechanism
to initiate the verification process of the
credentials and privileges of individuals
who receive disaster privileges as soon as
the immediate situation is under control?
e. Are the organization's disaster and
emergency-privileging processes consis-
tent with the process established under
the medical staff bylaws for granting
temporary privileges to fulfill an important
patient-care need? If not, is an amendment
to the medical-staff bylaws contemplated
and/or needed?
f. Has the appropriate jurisdiction established
procedures regarding credentials? Does the
appropriate jurisdiction allow an expe-
dited and/or different process for verifying
that the person practicing has the proper
credentials when in an emergency situa-
tion? Are immunity protections associated
Joint Comm'n on Accreditation of Healthcare Orgs.,
supra
note 3, at Standard MS 4.10.
29
Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Response Act of 2002, Pub. L. No. 107-188, § 107, 116 Stat. 594, 608 (codified as
amended at 42 U.S.C. § 247d-7b).
28
