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Great credentials committees are made not born

Credentialing Resource Center Connection, May 19, 2004

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Dear credentialing colleagues:

What characteristics do truly effective credentials committees share and what lessons might others learn from them?

This question was posed recently to a group of experienced credentialers from around the country. The following were their suggestions for an effective credentials committee:

- The job of the credentials committee is to make the process as impersonal as possible. Its business is to determine qualifications, not accommodate applicants.
- Change the composition and tenure of your committee members. Five or six very long-term, dedicated ex-chiefs of staff make a great committee.
- Never act under threat, intimidation, or for reasons of expediency. When in doubt, be deliberative.
- Put the burden on the candidate, whether an applicant or reapplicant. It is not the job of the credentials committee to ferret out information from unwilling sources, but rather the physician's job.
- Let the medical staff services professional do her or his job, and avoid processing the proverbial incomplete application.
- Never give in to demands from recruiters to "get this person on staff quickly. We need him or her in the clinic."
- When in doubt or in need of the rationale behind a decision, call in the department chair and request that he or she provide the specific reasons supporting a questionable or controversial recommendation.
- Adopt an approach to privileges requests that clearly states the required amount of education, training, and experience that are prerequisites to further consideration of a request. Preferably, this is an approach that combines a realistic core with a few special requests.
- Focus on what will be best for the patient. You can rarely go wrong with this approach. (For instance, ask if you would send a friend to be treated by this physician?)
- Follow a great process, have a great committee, and recognize that you are a great medical staff services professional.
- Get the chief executive officer (CEO) involved in the tough decisions. The interest of the CEO and the committee will almost always be congruent and early involvement will help.
- Adopt the policy that the credentials committee must "know" everything relevant about the (re)applicant and stick to that policy.
- Don't be afraid to say, "we cannot process until......."
- Avoid even the appearance of conflict of interest at the committee or department chair level.

The last suggestion from our group of credentialers was particularly telling, but ultimately unhelpful: "If the going gets really tough, resign from the committee."

That's it for today.

All the best,
Hugh Greeley
http://www.greeley.com/seminars/

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