The Avera Marshall Case

In one of the most widely anticipated health care decisions to be issued in recent years, the Minnesota Supreme Court recently ruled that the medical staff bylaws at issue constituted an enforceable contract between the hospital and members of the medical staff and that a medical staff has the legal capacity to sue (and be sued). This case, Medical Staff of Avera Marshall Regional Medical Center, et al. vs. Avera Marshall, has grabbed attention both nationally and regionally and presents a series of challenging questions for both hospital and physician counsel.

This session discuss the case and explores its potential repercussions, including: the functions of medical staff bylaws, implications of bylaws being a contract and why physicians and hospitals benefit-or not-from enforcement of bylaws, whether enforceability of bylaws can be disclaimed or avoided, what it might mean for medical staffs to be an unincorporated associations, and possible conflict of interest issues for hospital counsel.

This CLE will be available online until April 11, 2017.