The Physician and Patient Safety Act requires the Department of Health and Human Services to create federal regulations ensuring that doctors have fair hearing and appeal rights before hospitals can terminate, restrict, or reduce their professional privileges. The regulations must guarantee that physicians cannot be denied these hearings through third-party contracts, cannot be forced to waive these rights as a condition of employment, and that hearing records remain confidential unless there is a genuine patient safety threat or reporting is legally required. The bill prohibits hospitals from using outside contractors to bypass these due process protections. The regulations must be finalized and take effect within 18 months of the law's enactment. This legislation aims to protect physicians' procedural rights while maintaining oversight mechanisms for genuine patient safety concerns.
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