It is sometimes difficult to tell how much work a committee is doing until it summarizes its accomplishments. In many hospitals, the functions of the credentials committee go far beyond the review of new appointees to the medical staff. They include reappointments, review of new requests for...
When sending an applicant's reappointment file to the credentials committee, it is useful to use a form that profiles other elements required to be evaluated at reappointment (as opposed to just those required at initial appointment). This gives reviewers a snapshot of the overall...
A powerful tool for managing physician performance is the physician performance pyramid that was developed by the late Howard Kirz, MD, at the Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound. Kirz for many years participated in teaching the “Managing Physician Performance in Organizations” course at the...
As a physician treating COVID-19 patients since the start of the outbreak in the United States, it comes as no surprise that Raúl Zambrano, MS, MD, MRO, FAAFP, FACHE, a contracted the virus from a patient.
Practitioners must be extremely cautious when seeing patients who have potentially contracted COVID-19. Like many other organizations, Oak Street Health in Illinois has developed a specific protocol for the evaluation of such cases.
Make sure that you are covering all of the bases in your orientation program: Use comprehensive checklists detailing new hospitalists’ first days on the job. They should be specific, down to the detail of naming the individual who will tour the new physician through the facility on day one, for...
This sample form is used for surveying new hospitalists. This form may be administered to the new hospitalists by the hospitalist program director, medical director, or other appropriate medical staff leader in a one-on-one meeting approximately six to 10 weeks after the physician’s start date...
Organizations need to be aware of whether their state requires specific disclosures (such as privacy agreements, the process for filing complaints, etc.) to be made in writing prior to a provider delivering patient care via telemedicine. Some organizations consider originating sites to be...
Each healthcare facility needs a disaster preparedness plan, which should include steps the facility will take in the event of a natural disaster or other event that temporarily overtaxes its resources. One element of such disaster plans is language ensuring that appropriate...
While ultimately both parties need to make an effort in order to maintain the relationship, there are different ways each side can contribute. One way the medical staff services department (MSSD) can do their part is by finding ways to effectively communicate information to...
