The Physician and Patient Safety Act requires the Department of Health and Human Services to establish federal regulations protecting doctors' due process rights when hospitals consider terminating or restricting their medical privileges. The bill applies to physicians with medical staff privileges at hospitals and mandates that they receive a fair hearing and the right to appeal through the hospital's medical staff processes before any action is taken against them. Key protections include prohibiting hospitals from denying hearings through third-party contracts, preventing doctors from being forced to waive their right to a hearing as a condition of employment, and keeping hearing records confidential and unreportable to databases like the National Practitioner Data Bank unless patient safety is at immediate risk. The HHS must finalize these regulations within 18 months of the bill's enactment, with no specific federal funding amount mentioned in the legislation.
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