AAEM has taken the initiative of working with Congress on bipartisan federal legislation introduced earlier this year, which, if passed into law, would mandate that emergency physicians be given due process at their place of employment and that they cannot be required to waive this right as a condition of employment.
The bill, H.R. 6372, has been formally proposed and referred to the House Energy and Commerce Committee for consideration:
A Bill
To require the secretary of health and human services issue regulations to ensure due process rights for physicians furnishing emergency medical services.
Be it enacted by the senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, Section 1. Regulations to ensure due process rights for physicians furnishing emergency medical services.
The secretary of health and human services shall, as soon as practicable after the date of the enactment of this act, but not later than one year after such date, through rulemaking, issue final regulations to provide that physicians who are employed by or under contract with a hospital for furnishing emergency medical services have a fair hearing and appellate review through appropriate medical staff mechanisms before any termination or restriction of the professional activity of such physicians or staff privileges of such physicians at such hospital and that such a hearing and review are not denied through a third-party contract.