Collectively, the physicians, dentists, and other professionals responsible for medical care in a health facility, typically a hospital. Such staff may be full-time or part-time, employed by the hospital or not, and include all professionals who wish to be included (open staff) or just those who meet various standards of competence (closed staff). Staff privileges may or may not be permanent or conditioned on continued evidence of competence.
An organization of a hospital’s medical staff members formed to carry out two functions: (1) to provide the management structure through which the hospital policies which pertain to the medical staff members are carried out, with particular attention to the quality of care; and (2) to serve as the spokesperson for the physicians to the governing body. This organization is variously referred to as the “medical staff,” the “organized medical staff,” the “medical staff organization,” or simply the “MSO.”