• Appraisal committees are committees in hospitals and related medical institutions that review the professional experience and educational background of physicians before granting them permission to admit and treat patients in hospitals / related medical institutions. Staff Privileges also lists specific treatments and procedures that a doctor can provide and perform. As part of the attestation process, hospitals require proof of professional liability insurance, details of previous professional liability claims, and information on any underwriting action taken against the physician (such as cancellation of insurance coverage). Wrongful denial of admittance privileges by grading committees is a frequent source of grievances by physicians against both hospitals and individual physicians who are members of such committees. Both physicians’ professional liability policies and hospitals’ professional liability policy forms explicitly cover what is known as “assertion of authority”.