An Arkansas Circuit Court has ruled that Baptist Health, Arkansas' largest hospital system, cannot deny physicians' privileges if they are financially invested in a competitor, according to an AMA news release and news reports.
The suit against Baptist Health was brought by a group of 12 physicians, the American Medical Association and the Arkansas Medical Society.
The suit was filed by the plaintiffs when Baptist restricted hospital admitting privileges of physicians who held a financial stake in competing facilities.
The court's ruling prohibits the economic credentialing policy and cites the protection of the patient-physician relationship as the key determinate of the case.
Read the AMA's release about the ruling against hospital economic credentialing.