Helpful resources

Physician's Guide to Medical Staff Organization Bylaws, 4th Edition
Because medical staff bylaws are considered a contract and legally binding in most states, it is extremely important that they are well designed and well written. This publication contains practical guidance on bylaws development, model bylaws language, information on emerging issues and recent trends in medical staff reengineering.

The Physician's Guide (PDF, 996 KB) is available online free to AMA Members. Non-members will be able to purchase the Guide shortly.

AMA Conflict of Interest Guidelines for the Organized Medical Staff
Conflicts of interests among the members of a hospital’s* organized medical staff (OMS) are not completely avoidable. The presence of a conflict of interest is often indicative of the broad experience, accomplishments and diversity of institutional decision-makers. It follows that the goal of any conflict of interest (COI) policy should be to identify potential COIs and manage those COIs which are actual and material.

The AMA believes that a COI policy should be prepared with the objective of improving the internal decision-making processes of the OMS. The same COI policy should apply equally to all falling under the policy. To help the OMS in developing a cogent CIO policy, the AMA has developed Organized Medical Staff Conflict of Interest Guidelines. (PDF, 51 KB)
(*While “hospital” is used throughout, these guidelines may be applied in various types of health care delivery institutions.)

EMTALA Quick Reference Guide for On-Call Physicians
This EMTALA Quick Reference Guide (PDF, 70KB) is intended as an abbreviated summary of what is expected of on-call physicians.  It is NOT intended to be an all encompassing or comprehensive discussion of EMTALA.  For more extensive information regarding requirements and obligations for EMTALA compliance and to determine how a particular organization can be compliant, physicians and hospitals are urged to review the EMTALA statutes, relevant Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) EMTALA regulations, and obtain appropriate counsel from their own hospital and medical staff attorneys.

External Resources
The following links will take you off the AMA Web site. The AMA is not responsible for the content on these sites.

• The Joint Commission
• Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
• Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI)
• American Hospital Association (AHA)
• National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA)
• URAC
• National Association Medical Staff Services (NAMSS)
• Society of Hospital Medicine (SHM)