As an American Health Lawyers Association Arbitrator, and as someone trained in peer review processes by the California Society for Healthcare Attorneys, Mr. Mubasher provides hearing officer services in hospital and medical group peer review proceedings before Medical Executive Committees (MEC).
Federal and State laws protect and immunize participants in a Peer Review Hearing but only to the extent that specific guidelines are followed that protect fair procedure rights all physicians are entitled to.
Most bylaws specify the hearing officer of a Peer Review should be an attorney and "qualified" to preside over a peer review hearing. Mr. Mubasher is an experienced Alternative Dispute Resolution practitioner and certifies that he has no conflict of interest or bias in the outcome of a Peer Review. Mr. Mubasher is an advocate of the peer review process and can ensure that both sides of a confidential peer review will receive procedural fairness, and that decorum will be adhered to and maintained by all involved in the process.
It is helpful and usually important to have a hearing officer that is experienced in administrative hearings. Retired judges can be appropriate candidates to serve as a hearing officer but many have the tendency to conduct the hearing as judges, rather than hearing officers. This causes a situation where everyone becomes lost in the trapping of the judge's "trial." Also some retired judges stick to too stringent a protocol similar to that called for in criminal due process and civil law discovery.
As an attorney, mediator and arbitrator, Mr. Mubasher can assure you that he is familiar with peer review hearings, as well as California's provisions related to peer review hearings, and the best practices required to provide an impartial Peer Review Hearing so that the decision rendered in a peer review hearing remains the province of physicians as required by law.