Find a physician champion for new privileging system

Most facilities are unlikely to be able to pull together the entire medical staff on any single issue, and a major change to the privileging process is even less likely to draw unanimous support. This is why changing to a criteria-based core privileging system requires the support of a medical staff leader champion. In the new HCPro book, Criteria-Based Core Privileging: A Guide to Implementation and Maintenance, Chief Medical Officer and Vice President Medical Affairs Todd Meyerhoefer, MD, MBA, CPE, FACS, shares his experience and best practices learned from leading the core privileges conversion at two organizations. Meyerhoefer stresses the importance of getting a physician leader on board from the start.

“Turn your focus to targeting physician leadership such as the president and vice president of the medical staff, as well as the chair of the credentials committee. These key physicians will provide leadership and support to keep the conversion to core privileging project moving forward. If you are not the chief medical officer (CMO), securing his or her support is also crucial; even if the CMO is not leading the project, he or she will spend a significant amount of time addressing issues that arise. Without the support of the CMO and a few physician leaders, the likelihood of success is small.”

For more information or to order a copy of Criteria-Based Core Privileging: A Guide to Implementation and Maintenance click here.