Know when to accept primary source information from locum tenens agencies
In today’s quick tip, Credentialing Resource Center Symposium speaker Carol S. Cairns, CPMSM, CPCS, sets some parameters for accepting primary source information from locum tenens agencies.
Q: Can an organization accept information the locum tenens agency has obtained from primary sources (e.g., references/hospital affiliation), or do we have to reach out and get that primary source data on our own?
Cairns: It depends on what your policy requires for verifying competence and what the locum tenens agency collects. Let’s say that you have a very comprehensive peer reference document, but the locum tenens agency is only asking whether the physician was a member in good standing and during what time period. Those are not comparable reference questionnaires. If you can get the locum tenens agency to supplement what it’s requesting with the type of information you normally request by expanding its questionnaire, then absolutely, you can use what the agency has already gathered for you as long as it’s pertinent and timely. If it was gathered five years ago, that information would need to be supplemented by more current evaluations of competence.
As long as the locum tenens agency is obtaining the same (or similar) information that your organization normally would obtain on a new applicant—even if it is in a different format—that would be acceptable.
It is important to outline this process in a credentials policy. I would suggest that MSPs discuss this issue with the credentials committee. If the reaction is favorable, the MSPs can create the policy and have it approved by the medical staff structure through the governing body.
For more expert guidance on partnering with locum tenens agencies and a host of other hot topics in the world of medical staff governance, register for the 2016 Credentialing Resource Center Symposium. For those who have already signed up, reserve your hotel room by March 16 to take advantage of the discounted rate. Book online, or call 888-421-1442, and mention HCPro.