Q&A: 2017 CRC Symposium Case Study Competition winners

The 2017 CRC Symposium Case Study Competition winners are... 
Heather Johnson, CPCS, and Traci Shreiber
PinnacleHealth in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Editor’s note: This Q&A is part of the special 2017 CRC contest coverage, a collaboration between Credentialing Resource Center Journal, Medical Staff Briefing, and Credentialing Resource Center Daily. Check back in throughout Winners’ Week to learn more about this year’s CRC Achievement Awards and CRC Symposium Case Study Competition winners.   

Today’s medical staffs are far more complex than their predecessors. The growing diversity in practitioners’ specialties, affiliations, and relationships adds ever-more steps, stakeholders, and complications to credentialing, privileging, and provider enrollment. What’s more, failure to align these vetting processes can result in an onboarding program rife with redundancy, practitioner dissatisfaction, and delayed or lost revenue.

Experiencing some of these challenges firsthand, the physician services department at PinnacleHealth launched a sweeping initiative to foster cohesion across a patchwork of vetting practices. The Harrisburg, Pennsylvania–based healthcare system’s efforts included:

• Moving medical staff credentialing and provider enrollment activities under one roof
• Ramping up coordination with the recruitment department for a smoother practitioner onboarding experience
• Creating a credentials verification organization (CVO) to standardize the appointment process across three local facilities
• Implementing a new software system for tracking onboarding progress on multiple fronts, including billing and enrollment

PinnacleHealth’s journey toward cohesion has yielded measurable gains for the health system, its affiliated practitioners, and the broader Harrisburg community: Within nine months of the restructuring, practitioner satisfaction more than doubled and compliance on delegating credentialing audits increased to nearly 100% across the board.

“Pinnacle Health’s physician services team recognized the issues, took on the challenge, and succeeded in restructuring their department to include credentialing and provider enrollment, thus meaningfully streamlining the onboarding process,” says Carol Cairns, CPMSM, CPCS, expert speaker at the 2017 Credentialing Resource Center (CRC) Symposium. 

On April 6, two pioneers of the PinnacleHealth initiative will join Cairns and other expert faculty on the CRC Symposium stage to share their story, strategies, and next steps for forging credentialing alignment and software integration in today’s evolving healthcare climate. Their presentation, "Successful Alignment and Integration of Credentialing Activities," was hand-selected by a panel of esteemed industry experts, including Cairns, as the winning entry in the first-ever CRC Symposium Case Study Competition.

 “It is an impressive feat to bring together different departments and create standard work!” says Jennifer Svetlecic, MD, FCCP, system director of medical staff development at the Kansas City, Missouri–based St. Luke’s Health System, and member of the case study selection panel.

CRC caught up with Heather Johnson, CPCS, manager of physician and practitioner services, and Traci Shreiber, supervisor of physician services, to discuss their upcoming presentation, their professional inspirations, and why they’re so excited to be part of this year’s symposium.

Q: What made you decide to apply for the 2017 CRC Symposium Case Study Competition?

Heather Johnson: Traci and I have a deep passion for our profession and years of industry experience, both of which we tapped during our expansive credentialing alignment and integration initiative. We were compelled to enter the case study competition to share our vision, mission, successes, and obstacles in the hopes of inspiring and empowering our peers across the industry to modernize and streamline their credentialing functions.

Q: Give us a sneak peek: What can attendees expect to learn from your presentation?

Johnson: Leveraging the right resources at the right time and advocating for productive change are keys to our alignment success. CRC Symposium attendees who are contemplating retooling their current practitioner vetting approaches will learn from our candid discussion of the triumphs, setbacks, and other landmarks in our journey. They’ll come away with tips for saving time and strategies for thinking outside the box about credentialing and enrollment, not to mention renewed energy for making change!

Q: What are you most looking forward to at the 2017 CRC Symposium?

Traci Shreiber: We view the CRC Symposium as an opportunity to deepen our skills and engage with our peers. We are looking forward to the energy during the sessions and the inspiration we leave with.

Register for the 2017 CRC Symposium to see Heather and Traci live at the podium.

Meet the case study presenters

Heather Johnson, CPCS, is manager of physician & practitioner services at PinnacleHealth and president of the south central chapter of the National Association Medical Staff Services. A 15-year veteran of the medical staff services profession, Johnson recently applied her extensive skills and experience in creating PinnacleHealth’s CVO. Her professional objectives are to enhance the practitioner onboarding experience while empowering credentialing staff through ongoing education.

Traci Shreiber is supervisor of physician services at PinnacleHealth. After 10 years in the finance industry, Shreiber joined a private neurology practice in 2003, participating in all aspects of practice management. Since joining the PinnacleHealth team—and the medical staff services profession—in 2013, Shreiber has helped streamline practitioner vetting processes, bridging the divide between credentialing and provider enrollment and overseeing implementation of custom medical staff software.

About the 2017 CRC Contests

The 2017 CRC Symposium Case Study Competition and the 2017 CRC Achievement Awards are two inaugural contests recognizing MSPs and medical staff leaders who have made exceptional strides in their organization and the broader professional community. Winners, who were selected by a panel of esteemed industry experts, will be honored at the 2017 CRC Symposium, held April 6–7 in Austin, Texas.