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No two applicants are alike

Credentialing Resource Center Connection, April 7, 2005

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Dear credentialing colleague:

Credentialing professionals often feel that they are under pressure to treat all physician applicants to their medical staffs with the blind eye of equality. This is often due to the interpretation of advice from healthcare attorneys that suggests we must be consistent in our dealings with physicians. While it is true that policies and procedures should be consistent for all, no two physicians are alike, and therefore, the credentialing process must take into account the uniqueness of each applicant.

Consistency implies adherence to policies and procedures. It does not mandate that we treat all physicians the same unless they in fact are the same. Some applicants, because of their past history, require more scrutiny than others. For example, you should not hesitate to ask an applicant with a history of frequent malpractice cases to disclose all of his or her prior malpractice cases, including copies of the actual medical records, court documents, and depositions. And, should this person challenge you with the refrain, "do you ask all applicants to submit such material?" your reply should be "no, of course not, only those with as unusual a history as yours."

The trend towards litigation in the healthcare industry, as in other industries, has created anxieties in the credentialing process over treating applicants differently. Sometimes, however, this is completely justified and the only rational course of action. As long as your processes are consistent, and without bias, acknowledging differences in an applicant's background is perfectly acceptable and a sensible credentialing practice.

That's it for this week.

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

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