Hospital Staff Membership

Board takeaway

• Scope. Hospital membership allows pediatric dentists to provide operating-room, consultative, and emergency care, but treatment remains limited to approved individual privileges.
• Process. Begin with the medical staff office and hospital bylaws, document competence, and understand record, call, and renewal obligations.
• Fairness. AAPD opposes financial criteria unrelated to care quality or competence.

Role in the hospital

• Provide comprehensive oral care in the operating room, plus consultation and emergency services.
• Contribute to interdisciplinary teams, including craniofacial and hemophilia care.
• The policy identifies hematopoietic cell transplantation and cardiac surgery as examples requiring a preprocedural oral examination.
• Participate in clinical or administrative committees, leadership, education, and hospital-sponsored continuing medical education with medical colleagues.

Obtain and maintain privileges

Apply

• Start with the medical staff office of the hospital where privileges are sought.
• Follow that institution’s credentialing and privileging processes; review its bylaws for eligibility, rights, and responsibilities.
• Granting or renewal may depend on current credentials and prior experience. Board certification or candidacy is routinely required; verify the hospital’s actual requirements.

Maintain

• After appointment, provide care only within approved clinical privileges.
• Responsibilities include timely medical-record completion, compliance with staff rules and hospital policies, and possible emergency-department call participation.
• Use the staff office and bylaws to confirm privilege scope, call duties, documentation requirements, and renewal deadlines. The Delineation of privileges form helps organize the request.

Membership versus ongoing privileges

Hospital membership and privileges support coordinated access to oral care. Apply institutional obligations throughout membership; admission volume or economic interests should not substitute for competence-based evaluation.

Fair credentialing and governance

• Privileging should improve care quality and efficiency. Relevant selection factors include training, experience, competence, availability, and community medical needs.
• Economic credentialing: financial criteria unrelated to care quality or professional competence used to determine membership or privileges.
• Potential forms described include exclusive contracts, practice profiling, and identification of potential conflicts of interest. Apply the defining distinction—economic criteria unrelated to quality or competence—when discussing these examples.
• AAPD opposes economic credentialing for initial approval and renewal; decisions should prioritize patient welfare.
• Dental services fall within the hospital’s overall accreditation standards despite institutional latitude.
• AAPD supports ADA corporate membership in The Joint Commission and recognizes governance standards of The Joint Commission or a comparable CMS-approved accreditor.

Common board traps

Answer aloud

How would you obtain hospital privileges?

Apply through the medical staff office and the hospital's credentialing and privileging process.

• Review bylaws for eligibility, scope, rights, and responsibilities.
• Document current credentials, training, competence, and prior experience; board certification/candidacy is routinely required, subject to the institution.
• Confirm approved procedures before care; appointment does not authorize every procedure.

What obligations follow hospital staff appointment?

Practice within approved privileges and meet the hospital's ongoing duties.

• Complete records promptly and follow medical/dental staff rules and hospital policies.
• Fulfill applicable emergency-call obligations; the policy describes call participation as possible, not universal.
• Maintain competence and satisfy renewal requirements.
• Roles can include OR care, consultation, emergency care, interdisciplinary teams, education, and committees.

What is AAPD's position on revenue-based renewal of hospital privileges?

AAPD opposes economic credentialing unrelated to quality of care or competence.

• Relevant criteria include training, experience, competence, availability, and patient/community needs.
• Revenue alone should not determine membership or renewal.
• Apply that definition when evaluating exclusive contracts or practice profiling; an economic arrangement is not automatically economic credentialing.