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 a Bitterman Health Law Consulting Group, Inc., a healthcare law and consulting firm based in Charlotte, NC and Harbor Springs, MI specializing in the federal law governing hospital based emergency services (EMTALA), emergency medicine risk management, liability, and insurance issues, and regulatory compliance issues. Most recently he was the Chairman and CEO of the Emergency Physicians Insurance Company (EPIC), a risk retention group charted in Nevada; and previously the Director of Risk Management for the Emergency Medicine Department and Residency Program for the Carolinas HealthCare System in Charlotte, NC.
Dr. Bitterman is a board member of the Emergency Medicine Patient Safety Foundation, a contributing editor for the Emergency Department Legal Letter and sits on its editorial board and that of the publication Emergency Department Management. He is also a member (and immediate past chairman) 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 quality, legal, and risk management issues. Dr. Bitterman is frequently invited to speak at national 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."