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Reader tip for protecting practitioners' identities during verification

Credentialing & Verification Update, January 16, 2008

An item that originally ran in the November 21st issue of CVU, titled "Guidelines for querying schools, colleges, and educational programs," continues to generate reader input. The original 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."

In the December 20 issue, a reader suggested that including the practitioner's full Social Security number could lead to his or her identity being stolen. As a result, she suggested sending only the last four digits of the Social Security number when querying schools, colleges, and educational programs for verifications.

Reader Lori Fermanich, CPMSM, RHIT, CPHQ, manager of medical staff and risk management at St. Clare's Hospital in Schofield, WI, wrote to point out:

"[M]any schools, colleges and educational programs cannot verify education without the full Social Security number. If you do not include this, you risk delaying the processing of this applicant's credentials because the verification may be rejected. Also, the people employed by these schools who receive verification requests frequently have access to complete identification information about these applicants and could easily steal any former student's identity if they chose to do so. We have to hope that people in positions who are entrusted with this data are indeed trustworthy, as we hope all medical staff professionals are as well.

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

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