Negligent Credentialing Now Recognized in Illinois

On July 26, 2007, in Frigo v. Silver Cross Hospital (1st District), the Appellate Court recognized, for the first time, that negligent credentialing constitutes a cause of action in Illinois under the broader theory of institutional negligence. In Frigo, the jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff and found that the hospital was negligent in credentialing a physician because the hospital violated its own bylaws in granting certain surgical privileges to the defendant-physician.

To prove negligent credentialing a plaintiff must prove that: (1) the hospital failed to meet the standard of care in the selection of the physician it granted medical staff privileges to whose treatment provided the basis for the underlying medical malpractice claim; (2) while practicing pursuant to negligently granted medical staff privileges, the physician breached the standard of care; and (3) the negligent granting of medical staff privileges was a proximate cause of the plaintiff’s injuries.

Bottom Line: negligent credentialing is now a recognized cause of action against hospitals in Illinois.