The 2018 CRC Contests are closed. Join us at the 2018 CRC Symposium in Las Vegas, Nevada, on February 5 and 6 to mingle with, learn from, and train alongside this year's winners. Thank you for helping us recognize excellence in your industry. Stay tuned for details about the 2019 CRC Contest application period. 

Overview

The Credentialing Resource Center’s (CRC) Achievement Awards are back! These special distinctions honor MSPs and medical staff leaders who make a difference in their organization and serve as an inspiration to the broader professional community. Winners, who will be selected by a panel of accomplished industry experts, will receive free admission to and recognition at the 2018 CRC Symposium. Nominate an outstanding colleague (or yourself) in one of the following categories:

• CRC Medical Staff Professional of the Year
• CRC Medical Staff Leader of the Year
• CRC Excellence in Medical Staff Collaboration

Read on for general nomination requirements and the specific criteria for each category, and then click here to make your nomination.

The Perks

Winners will be honored with free admission to and recognition at the 2018 CRC Symposium (up to three free admissions for the CRC Excellence in Medical Staff Collaboration award winners). 

Nomination Submission and Review Process

To access the CRC Achievement Awards nomination form, click here, or paste the following URL into your internet browser’s address bar: http://app.keysurvey.com/f/1153044/1402/. We recommend that you paste your responses into the form fields from a Word document. The nomination period closes end of day on Friday, September 15, 2017.

The 2018 CRC Contest Committee, who will review nominations and select the winners for each category, is composed of accomplished MSPs and medical staff leaders, including members of the 2018 CRC Symposium faculty. Whenever possible, the Contest Committee requests that nominators provide specific evidence of their nominee’s/nominees’ impact (e.g., metrics, perspectives, and/or ancillary materials that speak to his, her, or their accomplishments). The more information you provide, the better the Contest Committee will understand why your nominee(s) deserve special recognition. To promote a fair review process, CRC administrative staff will remove as much identifying information from nomination forms as possible before sharing their contents with the Contest Committee.

Nominators will receive notice in or before December 2017 regarding whether their nominee(s) have won. Nominators are welcome to submit up to one nomination per category but must fill out a separate form for each nomination. Self-nominations are welcome in any category but may benefit from ancillary materials that feature outside perspectives on the candidate’s contributions to the field.

We look forward to hearing from you! Email CRC’s Senior Editor Delaney Rebernik at drebernik@hcpro.com with any additional eligibility or nomination questions.  

CRC Medical Staff Professional of the Year

Summary

The CRC Medical Staff Professional of the Year award recognizes a passionate, adept, and enterprising professional in medical staff services, credentialing, provider enrollment, or a related field. The recipient fosters quality and comradery among colleagues from a variety of disciplines. He or she champions and contributes to the advancement of high-caliber healthcare, patient safety, and the medical staff services field. In harnessing his or her impressive industry expertise and leadership skills, the CRC Medical Staff Professional of the Year makes a difference in his or her organization and serves as an inspiration to the broader professional community.

Nomination requirements and selection criteria

The 2018 CRC Medical Staff Professional of the Year will have the following experiences and characteristics:

• At the time of nomination, be a current MSP with at least one year of experience in medical staff services, credentialing, provider enrollment, or a closely related field. Nominees may be based in any organization that performs practitioner credentialing, including a hospital, health system, specialty clinic, ambulatory center, physician practice/medical group, sub-/postacute care facility, CVO, or managed care entity.   
• Have a visible impact on key organizational, operational, and/or medical staff processes. Examples of recent contributions are encouraged.
• Support and enhance organizational success, medical staff functionality, quality healthcare delivery, patient safety, revenue cycle, or a combination of these elements.
• Serve as a role model, educator, and mentor for peers.
• Demonstrate commitment to ongoing professional growth and continuing education in the field of medical staff services.
• Apply exceptional critical thinking, analytical, and problem-solving skills to professional challenges.
• Exhibit outstanding team leadership and/or project management skills.  
• Advocate for the recognition and advancement of the medical staff services profession.

Key considerations

Use the following questions to guide your responses on the 2018 CRC Achievement Awards nomination form and, by extension, help the 2018 CRC Contest Committee understand why your nominee deserves the CRC Medical Staff Professional of the Year award:

• What makes this nominee stand out from his or her peers?
• What positive impact has the nominee made within his or her facility and/or the greater medical staff services community?
• How does the nominee foster teamwork and strong professional relations among colleagues in and beyond his or her discipline?
• Has the nominee advanced recognition of the medical staff services profession and stakeholders’ understanding of industry best practices? For example, has the nominee written, presented, trained, or otherwise shared expertise related to his or her field?
• How does the nominee connect with others in the field, stay abreast of evolving industry best practices, and demonstrate a commitment to ongoing professional development? For example, does the nominee belong to any internal task forces or external professional groups (e.g., CRC or National Association Medical Staff Services)? Does the candidate regularly attend industry events? Is he or she in possession of—or actively pursuing—a degree or professional certification?
• Has the nominee received any notable recognition for his or her professional contributions (e.g., internal or external awards, grants, or press mentions)?

CRC Medical Staff Leader of the Year

Summary

The CRC Medical Staff Leader of the Year award recognizes an enthusiastic, agile, and forward-thinking vice president of medical affairs (VPMA), chief medical officer (CMO), medical staff officer, committee member, department chair, or similar leader. Through deft balancing of leadership and clinical responsibilities, the recipient upholds practitioner vetting and governance as cornerstones of high-quality, patient-centered healthcare. He or she energizes, empowers, and supports colleagues from an array of collaborating disciplines in advancing the caliber of the medical staff, the safety of patients, and the effectiveness of core processes. The CRC Medical Staff Leader of the Year has channeled a penchant for governing and commitment to ongoing professional development into visible improvement in his or her facility and/or the broader leadership community.

Nomination requirements and selection criteria

The 2018 CRC Medical Staff Leader of the Year will have the following experiences and characteristics:

• Be a licensed healthcare practitioner in good standing. Candidates include physicians and advanced practice professionals (APP) who have served in the following roles (or their equivalents):
  
  • VPMA or CMO
  • Medical staff officer (e.g., president/chief, vice president/chief, secretary, treasurer)
  • Committee chair or member (e.g., on the medical executive committee, credentials committee, APP committee)
  • Department chair/service line leader
• Be affiliated with the healthcare organization relevant to the nomination.
• Have a total of one or more years in medical staff leadership roles. This experience can be distributed among multiple positions.
• Have a visible impact on key organizational, operational, and/or medical staff processes. Examples of recent contributions are encouraged.
• Exhibit a commitment to ongoing growth as a medical staff leader. Keep current on recent developments and trends in relevant regulatory and accreditation requirements, hospital- and medical staff–specific initiatives, leadership principles and best practices, and clinical approaches.
• Demonstrate adherence to established leadership and medical staff expectations, a continual drive for quality assurance, and an eye for innovation.
• Apply exemplary leadership, teamwork, and communication skills. Serve as a role model, educator, and mentor for peers.
• Advocate for ongoing advancement in medical staff leadership approaches within and beyond the nominee’s organization and encourage capable peers across the industry to assume the mantle of leadership.
• Collaborate effectively with colleagues from a variety of disciplines. Recognize, support, and draw on the essential contributions of MSPs and other support personnel.

Key considerations

Use the following questions to guide your responses on the 2018 CRC Achievement Awards nomination form and, by extension, help the 2018 CRC Contest Committee understand why your nominee deserves the CRC Medical Staff Leader of the Year award:

• What makes this nominee stand out from his or her peers?
• In the past year, what positive impact has the nominee made within his or her facility and/or the greater medical staff leadership community?
• How does the nominee support and foster teamwork among colleagues in and beyond his or her discipline? Does he or she recognize, support, and draw on the essential contributions of MSPs and other support personnel?
• Has the nominee advanced interest in medical staff leadership and stakeholders’ application of best practices? For example, has the nominee written, presented, trained, or otherwise shared expertise related to the service?
• How does the nominee connect with other medical staff leaders, stay abreast of evolving best practices, and demonstrate a commitment to ongoing development? For example, does the nominee take part in any internal initiatives in addition to those required by his or her leadership post? Does the candidate belong to any external leadership groups (e.g., CRC, American Association for Physician Leadership, or American College of Healthcare Executives)? Does he or she regularly attend industry events? Is he or she in possession of—or actively pursuing—leadership-related certification?
• Has the nominee received any notable recognition for his or her professional contributions (e.g., internal or external awards, grants, or press mentions)?

CRC Excellence in Medical Staff Collaboration

Summary

It takes a village to cultivate a capable and committed medical staff. The CRC Excellence in Medical Staff Collaboration award honors an interdisciplinary team whose exemplary collaboration, expansive expertise, and eye for innovation have given rise to a process improvement or other important medical staff–focused development in their facility and/or in the broader healthcare community. The winning team will include at least one MSP and one medical staff leader.

Nomination requirements and selection criteria

Nominated groups should have inspired and/or implemented a structural change, process improvement, or other positive development in a crucial medical staff function. The collaboration and its output can take any form as long as the effect aligns with modern standards and is backed by compelling evidence. Likewise, nominated groups can run the gamut of sizes and disciplines as long as they include at least one MSP and at least one medical staff leader. The following are a few examples of strong candidates:

• A credentials committee chair and credentialing coordinator who have streamlined the reappointment process
• A medical staff services director, CMO, and quality officer who have engineered a professional practice evaluation report structure
• A group of medical staff coordinators and department chairs who have improved medical staff morale and buy-in related to governance processes
• A system CMO and an MSP in a leadership role who have successfully transformed credentialing at a system level, achieving tangible results in reducing duplication, increasing practitioner satisfaction, and decreasing A/R writeoffs

The winning group’s collaboration may have occurred at any time as long as their dynamic reflects current best practices and continues to have a beneficial impact on their facility and/or the broader industry. Nominators should provide evidence to support these facts.

Members in the nominated group may be based in any organization that enlists both MSPs and medical staff leaders in practitioner credentialing. Qualifying MSPs include personnel in medical staff services, credentialing, and/or provider enrollment positions. Eligible medical staff leaders include physicians and APPs who were serving as VPMAs/CMOs, medical staff officers, committee chairs/members, or department chair/service line leaders at the time of the collaboration.

Members of the nominated group may have moved on to different roles than they occupied at the outset of the collaboration. For example, a cardiologist who was heading up the medicine department at the start of the collaboration may have since become a medical staff officer; a former credentialing coordinator may now be the manager of the medical staff services department.  

Key considerations

Use the following questions to guide your responses on the 2018 CRC Achievement Awards nomination form and, by extension, help the 2018 CRC Contest Committee understand why your nominees deserve the CRC Excellence in Medical Staff Collaboration award:

• What inspired the collaboration? Was there a specific challenge at play or a new best practice that the team endeavored to emulate?
• When did the collaboration begin, and what was the initiation process?
• What have been the most significant effects of the collaboration, and do you have supporting materials that speak to these effects?
• Has the nature and/or impact of the collaboration evolved over time? For example, have members reworked their initial vision or approach? Has the number of participants increased?
• Has the team encountered any challenges in their collaborative endeavors? If so, how have members addressed those obstacles?  

Click the link below to download a PDF of these guidelines.