Medical staff privileges and the antitrust laws: a view from the Federal Trade Commission.

Abstract

This article describes the types of medical staff credentialing and peer review activities that invite the scrutiny of the Federal Trade Commission. To avoid antitrust problems, medical staffs and their members are advised to offer recommendations based on specific quality-of-care concerns. Antitrust problems will arise, however, if the medical staff or its members engage in collective activities that involve threats or coercion directed at the hospital's governing board or that are calculated solely to exclude an entire class of potential competitors.