Temporary privileges for locum tenens practitioners: Yay or nay?
This week, CRC Daily covers credentialing. We kick things off with timely guidance on a longstanding pain point: vetting locum tenens practitioners.
By and large, locum tenens applicants should be credentialed like all other applicants in terms of information verification and clinical competency. Consequently, when it comes to temporary privileges, the standard principles apply.
In general, there are two situations that might warrant temporary privileges. The first is when an immediate patient care need is identified, such as when a disaster strikes or when a particular patient requires specific clinical skills that are not currently available on the medical staff. The second is when an applicant’s file is clean and is only waiting for the appropriate bureaucratic meetings to occur before it is completed. Many organizations have created a fast-track process that grants temporary privileges to individuals who are going to be approved. Note that the governing body must still approve grants of temporary privileges.
Most organizations use temporary privileging for locum tenens practitioners only when there is truly an immediate patient need for their services. For example, if your hospital’s one neurosurgeon suddenly becomes incapacitated, and you are supporting a Level II trauma center, you can make the case that an immediate patient care need exists.
On the other hand, if the neurosurgeon is going on vacation, that presents a different issue: Most vacations are planned with enough time that a locums tenens physician could be identified and brought through the normal credentialing process. If this is not the case, the organization should revisit its requirements for time off requests. Poorly vetted locum tenens practitioners who are granted temporary privileges can be a significant potential source of patient harm. Locum tenens practitioners should be used sparingly, and the hospital should allow adequate time for thorough credentialing, in congruence with the tenets of granting temporary privileges.
Source: The Credentials Committee Manual