AMA Physician's Guide to Medical Staff Organization Bylaws

The 7 th Edition of the AMA Physician's Guide to Medical Staff Organization Bylaws was released in January 2022. This resource is designed to assist medical staffs with drafting or amending medical staff bylaws and understanding how emerging issues in health care impact medical staff.

Medical staff organization bylaws

Download the 7th Edition of the AMA Physician's Guide to Medical Staff Organization Bylaws for recommendations on self-governance and sample bylaws language (members only).

Updates on staff self-governance

The guide has been fully updated to address emerging issues and trends in medical staff governance, including:

• Board certification and re-certification standards
• Disaster privileges
• Emergency coverage requirements
• Exclusion of medical staff from Medicare
• Fair investigations into the National Practitioner Data Bank
• Gender-neutral language
• Hearing panels and methods when face-to-face meetings are not possible
• Indemnification for liability under hospital policies
• Investigations related to physician health status
• New Joint Commission qualifications for medical staff membership
• Physician rights to exercise personal and professional judgement in voting and advocacy
• Rights and responsibilities of physicians under medical staff bylaws
• Updated governance for officers of the medical staff

Sample bylaws language

The revised guide also provides sample language to include in medical staff bylaws for:

• Compliance with accreditation standards and regulatory requirements
• Corrective action
• Credentialing and privileging
• Due process
• Medical staff structure and self-governance
• Quality assessment and improvement

Download the bylaws guide

Read and download the newly revised guide now (PDF, members only)*. If you are not an AMA member and would like to obtain the guide, please contact OMSS at [email protected] .

*Although the guide provides sample bylaw language that supports self-governance, it is not a model bylaws document nor is it intended as legal advice.

Table of Contents

1. Updates on staff self-governance
2. Sample bylaws language
3. Download the bylaws guide