What can credentialing and privileging professionals do to avoid putting their organizations at risk?

It’s all about process. It should go without saying that no practitioner should be allowed to provide patient care until he or she has successfully satisfied the requirements of a stringent qualification, or disqualification, process. Begin by collecting the appropriate information (i.e., formal education, training, and certification). Then verify that information through primary sources to ensure that what the practitioner provided is valid.

There’s no place for complacency. Since the ultimate goal of any provider is to deliver the best patient care possible, healthcare organizations must take whatever steps necessary to develop a sound credentialing and privileging process and to revisit and reevaluate it regularly to ensure optimal results. Screening incoming physicians and assigning appropriate privileges can be a time-consuming task even under the best circumstances. The more streamlined your processes are, the sooner you’ll have the appropriate physicians caring for patients whose conditions fall within their specialties.

It’s also hugely important that your physician leaders, committee members, senior management, board members, etc. all understand the complexities of credentialing and privileging and the importance of implementing the processes necessary to get it right. Obtaining their buy-in at the beginning will kick off your process improvement initiative on the right foot and improve your chances of success.

This quick tip was answered by Sally Pelletier, CPMSM, CPCS, who will speak about this topic at the 2016 Credentialing Resource Center Symposium. For more information about the Credentialing Resource Center Symposium, click here.