Note: A complete draft of this resolution has been submitted. View the full draft text.
RESOLVED, That the Texas Medical Association support medical staff bylaws providing that appointment as chief medical officer or an equivalent hospital or health-system executive does not, by itself, confer medical staff membership, voting rights, committee leadership, or authority to represent or govern the organized medical staff; and be it further
RESOLVED, That the Texas Medical Association support limiting an administration-appointed physician executive who is not a member of the hospital's organized medical staff to a nonvoting advisory or liaison role in medical staff affairs, without authority to chair medical staff governing committees, select or remove elected medical staff leaders, veto medical staff actions, or direct medical staff peer-review determinations, consistent with applicable law and the governing board's legally required responsibilities; and be it further
RESOLVED, That the Texas Medical Association support explicit medical staff bylaw provisions defining executive participation and authority, preserving elected medical staff leadership's control over medical staff meeting agendas and deliberations, requiring disclosure and management of conflicts of interest, and protecting the medical staff's ability to meet in executive session and communicate directly with the governing board, consistent with applicable law; and be it further
RESOLVED, That the Texas Medical Association oppose expansion of administrative authority over medical staff governance through unilateral interpretation of ambiguous bylaws, incorporation of separately amendable hospital policies, or creation of administrative membership categories that bypass established medical staff approval procedures; and be it further
RESOLVED, That the Texas Medical Association develop and disseminate model bylaw provisions protecting medical staff self-governance through explicit limits on administration-appointed executives' authority, safeguards against circumvention of medical staff approval procedures, and protections against retaliation for good-faith patient advocacy and participation in medical staff governance, consistent with applicable law, legitimate patient-safety oversight, due process, and the governing board's legally required responsibilities.