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Reader tip for protecting practitioners’ identities during verification

Credentialing & Verification Update, December 19, 2007

In the November 21st issue of CVU, we published "Guidelines for querying schools, colleges, and educational programs." The article outlined some general procedures that might help expedite verifications and ensure that they are sent to the appropriate person.

One tip read, "Provide any useful identification information-such as each graduate's name (including the name under which the individual was registered, if applicable), graduation date, birth date, and Social Security number-to help an office retrieve records and information more quickly and easily."

Reader Debra Campbell, CPCS, Medical Staff Credentialing Specialist at Tulare Local Health Care District in Tulare, CA, suggests:

"This information is all it would take to steal someone's identity if a letter or fax went astray. May I suggest sending only the last four digits of the Social Security number (i.e.,: ***-**-1234)-much as the credit card companies do with statements."

To send in your own credentialing and verification tips, please e-mail them to mcoler@hcpro.com.

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