Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/19pdf/18-1323_c07d.pdf
Page Number: 87.0

6 

JUNE MEDICAL SERVICES L. L. C. v. RUSSO 

ALITO, J., dissenting 

competency.”  App. 818.  That process, he explained, “thor-
oughly  vet[s]  the  qualifications  of  [applicants]  to  ensure
that [they] are competent to provide the services that are in
question.”  Ibid. 

June  Medical’s  expert,  Dr.  Eva  Pressman,  agreed  that 
“admitting privileges can serve the function of providing an 
evaluation  mechanism  for  physician  competency.”    Id.,  at 
1042,  1091;  Record  10864.    Doe  3,  one  of  the  doctors  who 
currently  performs  abortions  in  Louisiana,  also  acknowl-
edged the credentialing value of admitting privileges, App. 
247–248, as did Doe 4, another Louisiana abortion doctor, 
Record 14155. 

Although  the  plurality  contends  that  the  review  con-
ducted by hospitals adds little to the vetting undertaken by
the State Board of Medical Examiners (Board), that is not 
true.  Hospitals  look  beyond  the  mere  possession  of  a  li-
cense, and they do that for very obvious reasons.  If nothing 
else, their review process serves the hospitals’ interests by
diminishing the risk of awards for malpractice committed 
by doctors practicing on their premises.  In Louisiana, hos-
pitals that perform negligent credentialing cannot benefit
from the State’s medical malpractice cap.  See Billeaudeau 
v. Opelousas General Hospital Auth., 2016–0846, p. 21 (La.
10/19/16),  218  So.  3d  513,  527.    In  addition,  a  hospital’s
“Medicare participation and other certifications depend on
completing the credentialing process.”2 

The review conducted by hospitals goes beyond that of the 
Board  in  another  way:  it  is  continuous.  Under  the  Joint 
Commission Standards, hospitals must monitor physicians 

—————— 

2 Ryan, Negligent Credentialing: A Cause of Action for Hospital Peer 
Review Decisions, 59 How. L. J. 413, 419 (2016); see also Eskine, Square
Pegs and Round Holes: Antitrust Law and the Privileging Decision, 44 
U. Kan. L. Rev. 399, 401 (1996) (“[H]ospitals have strong incentives to 
award  staff  privileges  only  to  those  physicians  who  have  proven  to  be
capable and knowledgeable physicians”).