Friday, April 13, 2012

Physician Heal Thyself - Attorney Gregory Piche' Releases a New Book on Sham Medical Peer Reviews

As an attorney, Gregory Piche' is well versed in the Peer Review process, having spent many years representing both hospitals and physicians. He realized early on that many of the proceedings he participated in were often initiated in bad faith resulting from hospital politics or economic competition.

Piche' wrote the book so that physicians, their families and lawyers might benefit from an objective overview of the process and the knowledge that they are not alone.

Using his own case histories and sources from the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, BNA Healthcare Reporter and a number of healthcare listservs, Piche' has put together a collection of interesting and turbulent case histories that found their way into American courts for further review and interpretation.

The book is an informative read, chock full of interesting circumstances and their outcomes. It also delves into the American judicial system and its general unwillingness to overturn the peer review apple cart, unsteady as it is.

Physicians, hospitalists and dentists need to understand the facts of life related to the peer review process and how it can endanger and derail a career in medicine. The book points out several sham peer reviews that negatively branded good doctors for life, even though they were unfairly tried by their peers. It is also a warning for entrenched physicians, committees and hospital board members claiming immunity that if they don't play fair, there can be legal and financial consequences.

Piche' believes there ought to be a more collaborative approach with a statute of limitations or expiration regarding reports filed with the National Practitioner's Data Bank. There should also be better compliance with basic due process rights enumerated in 1986's Health Care Quality Improvement Act.

Piche' believes that offering immunity to ruling committees often dilutes the peer review process, leading to a sham review. He states that laws and due process are important to protect the interests of professionals.

Piche' offers several effective ways to bypass the current system known as the Medical Peer Review, favoring rehabilitation, retraining, and independent evaluations to dilute the adversarial sham influences caused by ego, power and money that seem to dominate the profession.