Tip: Resist pressure to rush-credential employed physicians
January 18, 2023
Fundamentally, there should be no difference between how employed practitioners and independent practitioners are credentialed. Verifying the information and evaluating current clinical competence should be the same regardless of whether the applicant internist is an employed hospitalist or an independent internist opening his or her own office.
In the real world, however, hospitals and health systems are under great pressure to expedite credentialing for the employed physicians coming on board in order to maximize productivity (and thereby generate income for the organization). In the face of this pressure, the credentialing process should take no shortcuts—although having an expedited workflow for clean applicants is still possible.
Likewise, the credentials committee should not wield the credentialing process as a political weapon to slow employed physicians’ entry to the medical staff. Unfortunately, such an approach can occur in areas where independent physicians feel threatened by the employed group or are upset with hospital administration for pursuing these practitioners. Your organization’s credentialing policies should stress that the processes are the same for all applicants seeking privileges on the medical staff.
Source: The Credentials Committee Manual
Found in Categories:
Credentialing, Medical Staff Leadership and Governance, Medical Staff Services Department, Physician Employment