Medical Staff Executive Committee

Becoming a physician executive of a hospital or health system could mean involvement at the level of the Medical Staff Executive Committee (also called the Medical Executive Committee).

What can you find online about your Medical Staff Executive Committee or Medical Executive Committee? Here are just a few examples from several health care organizations:

Here's an example from University of North Carolina:

The Medical Staff Executive Committee consists of the Officers of the Medical Staff, the Clinical Department Chairs, the Chief Nursing Officer, the President of UNC Physicians and Associates, the Deans of the Schools of Medicine and Dentistry or their designees, the President of the Housestaff Council, and the President and Chief Operating Officer of UNC Hospitals.

At Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital, the The Medical Executive Committee (MEC) is the primary governance committee for the independent medical staff.  The MEC, with input from the medical staff, makes key leadership decisions related to medical staff policies, procedures, and rules, with an emphasis on quality control and quality improvement initiatives. They are also responsible for adopting and implementing medical staff policies and procedures, and creating medical staff appointment and reappointment criteria.

The MEC represents and acts for on behalf of the Medical Staff, enforces medical staff rules and policies and is responsible for ensuring that the medical staff functions as efficiently and effectively as possible.   This group also manages the process for proposing and evaluating the medical staff bylaws and rules and regulations—the legal documents that define the purpose, structure, and authority of the medical staff. 

At the NIH, the Medical Executive Committee, comprised of the various clinical directors of the NIH intramural clinical research programs and other senior medical and administrative staff, advises the Clinical Center Director and develops policies governing standards of medical care in the Clinical Center. The Committee represents and acts for the Medical Staff and other clinical professionals in the Clinical Center, and enforces the rules and policies of the Clinical Center.