1.    As used in this section:

a.    “Continuing medical education” means continued postgraduate medical education required by the North Dakota board of medicine intended to educate medical professionals about new developments in the medical field.

b.    “Maintenance of certification” means a process requiring periodic recertification examinations or other activities to maintain specialty medical board certification. Recertification may be provided by a medical professional organization, such as one or more of the medical specialty boards of the American board of medical specialties, the American osteopathic association, the national board of physicians and surgeons, or any other board a credentialing entity recognizes.

c.    “Physician” means a physician licensed under chapter 43-17.

d.    “Specialty medical board certification” means certification by a board specializing in one particular area of medicine and having requirements in addition to those the North Dakota board of medicine requires to practice medicine.

2.    Except as provided in subsection 5, a physician may not be denied staff privileges or employment by a facility licensed under this chapter based solely on the physician’s decision to not participate in maintenance of certification.

3.    This section does not prevent a facility’s credentialing committee from requiring a physician meet continuing medical education requirements as set by the physician’s licensing board.

4.    This section does not prohibit a facility licensed under this chapter from requiring a physician to undergo remedial or corrective courses or training as may be required by a quality improvement committee.

5.    A facility licensed under this chapter may differentiate between physicians based on a physician’s maintenance of certification if:

a.    The facility’s designation, certification, or accreditation is contingent on the facility requiring a specific maintenance of certification by physicians seeking staff privileges or credentialing at the facility and the differentiation is limited to those physicians whose maintenance of certification is required for the facility’s designation, certification, or accreditation; or

b.    The voting physician members of the facility’s organized medical staff vote to authorize the differentiation and the facility’s governing body approves the vote.

(1) The facility may establish terms applicable to the facility’s differentiation, including    appropriate    grandfathering    provisions,    and    allowing    the differentiation to be rescinded at any time by a vote of the voting physician members of the facility’s organized medical staff.

(2) This section may not be construed to require a new vote by the facility’s medical staff.

(3) Notwithstanding paragraph 2, this section may not be construed to abrogate or supersede the ability of an organized medical staff and governing board of an individual facility to determine the facility’s credentialing and privileging criteria with respect to board certification and the maintenance of certification requirements.

6.    A facility licensed under this chapter may not consider maintenance of certification participation or status as a standard of care consideration in the course of a quality improvement assessment.