A radiology practice in Helena, MT, has sued the city's local hospital over credentialing privileges, a regional newspaper reported on August 13.
Montana Interventional and Diagnostic Radiology Specialists charged in a complaint filed in a state court that St. Peter's Hospital refused to grant the group credentials to practice at the hospital, and that it abused its "monopoly power," stated the article in the Missoulian.
Two members of the practice, Dr. Dennis Palmer and Dr. Randy Sibbitt, had worked at the hospital beginning in the early 1990s. The group's other members, Dr. Chris Lindsay and Dr. Hassan Massouh, also worked at the hospital when they joined the practice, according to the newspaper. However, in 2009, St. Peter's Hospital granted an exclusive radiology contract to other groups of radiologists.
Montana Interventional and Diagnostic Radiology Specialists said that in July 2011 it again asked for staff privileges at St. Peter's Hospital; the group was notified that the radiology department was closed to nonemployees.
In its complaint, the radiology practice is accusing the hospital of unfair restraint of trade, violations of laws that base hospital credentialing on economic relationships, and denial of access to radiology records at the hospital, according to the Missoulian.
Between 2009 and 2011, no fellowship- and subspecialty-trained radiologists were working in Helena other than those in the practice, the complain states, according to the paper. Therefore, the vast majority of patients in Helena had no access to radiologists with these credentials.
