Medical homes take a team approach to care, with the help of everyone from nurses to front desk staff focusing on preventing and managing chronic disease. The goal is to avoid costly and preventable complications. However, a three-year pilot study of medical home practices in Pennsylvania found...
Baptist Memorial Health Care System joined theTennessee Center for Patient Safety, an Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)–listed Patient Safety Organization (PSO), more than two years ago. In June 2012, Sharon Fiveash, RN, MSN, assumed the role of PSO administrator...
Credentialing Resource Center Digest - Volume 15, Issue 7
The largest of 26 coalitions participating in the $218 million, federally funded Hospital Engagement Networks (HEN) program claims it has prevented 69,000 patients from hospital-caused complications at 1,600 hospitals in its first two years compared to rates from the recent past. Hospitals...
Credentialing Resource Center Digest - Volume 15, Issue 6
CMS has extended a delay in the enforcement of Final Rule 1599-F by prolonging the probe and educate period. This is the third time CMS has delayed enforcement of the policy, which requires a patient to stay in the hospital for more than two midnights before CMS will reimburse a hospital at...
Too many hospitals and healthcare leaders experience serious safety failures as routine and inevitable parts of daily work, according to an article published in the September 2013 issue of The Milbank Quarterly. In the article, authors Mark R. Chassin, MD, FACP, MPP, MPH, president and...
Credentialing Resource Center Journal - Volume 23, Issue 2
After uncovering my first undisclosed issue while working a credentials file, I was told to call the physician to request a detailed explanation. I can't remember what it was I had to ask about, but I vividly recall feeling horrified, ill-equipped, and small.
Credentialing Resource Center Digest - Volume 15, Issue 5
A Valley Center, Calif., man pleaded not guilty on Friday to charges including practicing medicine without a license, the Los Angeles Times reported. At an arraignment at the San Diego Superior Court, state prosecutors charged that Robert O. Young, 61, profited financially and caused...
Credentialing Resource Center Digest - Volume 15, Issue 4
Quality emergency care availability is threatened by a wide range of factors, including shrinking capacity and an ever-increasing demand for services, according to “America’s Emergency Care Environment, A State-by-State Report Card,” released by the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP...
Credentialing Resource Center Digest - Volume 15, Issue 3
Should clinicians ever search online for information on a patient—even if the intent is to provide better care—or does HIPAA prohibit such actions? Medical associations and similar groups have developed guidelines about the appropriate use of social media, and many HIPAA-covered entities have...
One of the most important initial tasks of the physician credentialing process is gathering background information. This often involves reaching out to various medical boards to verify physician information.