(Adopted July 28, 2016)

Moonlighting is any medical-type professional activity that is not part of the course and scope of the House Officers' educational Program. Moonlighting must not interfere with the ability of the House Officer to achieve the goals and objectives of the educational Program. All medical and non-medical outside employment should be reviewed and approved by the Program Director in accordance with LSU System Permanent Memorandum (PM-11) https://www.lsuhsc.edu/administration/pm/pm-11.pdf.

• All moonlighting activities must be reported by each House Officers as work hours in New Innovations
• All moonlighting must be counted toward the 80-hour weekly work hour limit
• House Officers cannot be required to engage in moonlighting activities
• PGY-1 House Officers are not permitted to moonlight
• House Officers employed under a J-1 visa are prohibited from moonlighting by law
• House Officers may not moonlight at pain or weight loss clinics
• Individual ACGME-accredited Programs may prohibit their House Officers from moonlighting
• Each House Officer must submit to his/her Program Director a written request for approval of all moonlighting, which must be signed and approved by the Department Head and maintained as part of the House Officers permanent training record. Each request for moonlighting must include the nature, duration and location of the moonlighting and must be accompanied by a completed Disclosure of Outside Employment Form https://www.lsuhsc.edu/administration/pm/pm11form.pdf#page=1 in accordance with LSU System PM-11 https://www.lsuhsc.edu/administration/pm/pm-11.pdf.
  • Descriptions on the PM-11 request should include: 
    • that the work will be done outside of LSUHSC work hours. If that’s not the case, annual leave will be taken.
    • Malpractice will be provided by _______________________________
    • The moonlighting hours count towards my 80-hour work week limitation and the number of hours has been approved by the residency program director.
• House Officers participating in moonlighting activities must be fully licensed to practice medicine in each state where he/she moonlights and must have their own Federal DEA number. Neither a training license nor a training DEA number is valid for moonlighting.
• House Officers, who are moonlighting, will not be covered for medical malpractice under the LSU Health Sciences Center's Professional Liability Insurance Policy. House Officers must maintain adequate professional liability coverage or ensure that his/her outside employer provides adequate professional liability coverage. It is the responsibility of the House Officer and his/her outside employer to determine what constitutes adequate coverage. It is also the responsibility of the House Officer and his/her outside employer to determine if the House Officer is appropriately licensed and has the appropriate training and skills to carry out his/her assigned duties.
• Program Directors are responsible for ensuring that moonlighting does not interfere with the ability of the House Officer to meet the goals, objectives, assigned duties, and responsibilities of the educational Program. Each Program Director will monitor all moonlighting activities in his/her Program; if moonlighting activities are believed to adversely affect the House Officer's performance in the Program, the Program Director may withdraw permission to moonlight.
• Permission for moonlighting may be withdrawn at any time by the Program Director, Department Head, and/or the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs - Graduate Medical Education.
• House Officers moonlighting without prior written approval will be subject to disciplinary action.
• Any House Officer violating any School of Medicine moonlighting rule, policy, or procedure will be subject to disciplinary action.

Special Considerations:

The following behaviors are highly discouraged and, in some cases, may be illegal. The Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners and the DEA may independently investigate and prosecute individual House Officers if the moonlighting House Officer:

• Is not fully licensed and/or does not have his/her own malpractice and DEA number
• Pre-signs prescriptions
• Uses facility prescription DEA numbers outside assigned facility (number is site specific)
• Signs documentation attesting that a patient was seen when the patient was not
• Fails to date all narcotics prescriptions and prescribe them to patient's name and address
• Asks a nurse to complete a task that are the physician's responsibility
• Fails to read the fine print; House Officers are held accountable for everything they sign
• Fails to follow accepted practice guidelines, especially in the case of weight loss and pain patients
• Fails to be cognizant of Medicare fraud and abuse guidelines
• Treats family members.

Note: If a House Officer treats anyone, he/she must create a medical record which includes a history, physical and appropriate laboratory, and diagnostic tests in keeping with the standard of care. This activity is considered moonlighting and requires licensure, DEA and malpractice insurance independent of those provided as part of the training Program. House Officers are strongly advised to refer family members and friends to another practitioner.
Once a House Officer has treated someone, a doctor-patient relationship has been created and all legal and professional standards apply, including HIPAA laws that prevent discussing a patient or case with anyone not directly involved in that patient's care.

Moonlighting - Foreign Medical Graduates

Moonlighting by J-1 visa holders is not allowed; the J-1 visa is for educational and cultural exchange and is not a work visa, so activities considered integral part of the educational program should be covered by a House Officer's base salary. If the base salary does not cover an activity, then it is considered moonlighting. Any J-1 visa holder that is moonlighting is in violation of the LSU contract with the House Officers and the ACGME guidelines.