Dr. Bitterman earned his medical degree from Wayne State University and his law degree from the University of Detroit. He completed an emergency medicine residency at the University of Cincinnati and practiced emergency medicine for over 30 years. Dr. Bitterman is an active member of the State Bar of North Carolina.
Currently, he is President and CEO of Healthcare Law and Investment Consulting, Inc., a healthcare legal consulting firm based in Sarasota, FL, and Harbor Springs, MI, specializing in the federal law governing hospital based emergency services (EMTALA), emergency medicine risk management, and regulatory compliance issues. Previously he was the Director of Risk Management for the Emergency Medicine Department and Residency Program at the Carolinas HealthCare System in Charlotte, NC, and then Chairman and CEO of the Emergency Physicians Insurance Company, a risk retention group charted in Nevada.
Dr. Bitterman is the medical editor for the publication Emergency Department Management, and a contributing editor for the Emergency Department Legal Letter. He is also a past chairman and member of the American College of Emergency Medicine's (ACEP) Medical-Legal Committee.
Dr. Bitterman serves as a consultant to ACEP and other healthcare organizations, hospitals, peer-review organizations, and law firms throughout the country on EMTALA and ED legal, and risk management issues. Dr. Bitterman is frequently invited to speak at national and regional conferences, and has published extensively on federal laws (EMTALA), state laws, and risk management, and administrative issues concerning emergency medicine and patient transfers. Dr. Bitterman authored the widely used text on EMTALA -"Providing Emergency Care under Federal Law: EMTALA."