Are there any exceptions to credentialing and privileging employed physicians?

The answer is maybe. One possible exception is this three-part consideration: (1) the physician is 100% in an ambulatory setting, (2) the practice site is a hospital/health system corporation with its own unique (non-hospital) CMS billing number, and (3) the physician does not require any hospital-based privileges.

Strictly speaking, such a physician does not require either medical staff membership or privileges. However, even under this tripartite consideration, the health system employer or a payer may contractually require a connection with the medical staff for affiliation or privileges. All that said, it is still best practice and the most efficient use of hospital resources to have one single, unified process to handle all employed physicians. Your organization can be assured that every candidate has been fully vetted through the same prescribed process at least once.