Tip of the week: Keep physicians informed of re-entry policy changes

Medical staffs seldom have a policy in place to guide the re-entry process for physicians who have been out of practice for an extended period. However, they should. Consider establishing a set of reasonable goals that physicians should meet when they attempt to re-enter practice to ease the application process for both MSPs and practitioners.

Once your hospital determines what is required, the credentials committee should inform physicians who are planning on leaving practice for an extended period of those criteria. Many times, physicians don’t find out about these requirements until they attempt to return to practice, which extends the amount of time out of practice as they scramble to meet them.

Because many physicians are out of practice for several years, the credentials committee should send notices to inactive physicians whenever the re-entry criteria changes. This will allow physicians to update their re-entry plan to accommodate the new requirements.

To read more about physician re-entry, check out the special report in the August issue of Medical Staff Briefing, archived online at http://www.hcpro.com/medical-staff.