Granting clinical privileges to telemedicine practitioners

This week’s quick tip comes from an exchange adapted from HCPro’s webinar, “Telemedicine: Performing Effective Credentialing, Privileging, and Peer Review for Remote Practitioners,” available now on demand. Catherine M. Ballard, Esq., partner in the law firm of Bricker & Eckler based in Columbus, Ohio, and executive director of its affiliated consulting company, The Quality Management Consulting Group, discusses an originating site’s responsibility with granting clinical privileges to telemedicine practitioners.

Q: In a credentialing-by-proxy arrangement, does the originating site have to actually grant clinical privileges to the telemedicine practitioner, or is it sufficient that the hospital/telemedicine entity dispatching the practitioner (“distant site”) has granted him or her privileges?

A: The originating site must actually grant privileges. At a minimum, the medical executive committee (MEC) must recommend that the telemedicine practitioner receive the requested privileges, and the board must approve the grant. Involving other credentialing stakeholders who typically sign off on privilege requests (e.g., the department chair and the credentials committee) depends on your preference and your bylaws. Regardless, both the MEC and the board have to officially acknowledge, “We are granting this practitioner clinical privileges at our hospital.”

Even though this act might seem a bit perfunctory, you are in fact granting the telemedicine provider clinical privileges at your location, which means your board has to bless the process based on a recommendation from your medical staff.

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