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Three key steps to verification during reappointment

Credentialing & Verification Update, May 9, 2007

Accreditation and licensing standards require a reappointment component to physician privileging, and courts have imposed a strict duty on hospitals to protect patient safety by regularly reviewing competency and supervising physicians once they join the medical staff. As a result, medical staff professionals must conduct independent verifications of practitioners' updated credentials at reappointment just as they do during initial appointment.

Take the following three steps during reappointment to limit patient injuries and hospital liability for negligence claims:

1. Contact all other hospitals at which the physician has privileges to determine whether any adverse actions have occurred since his or her initial appointment. Inquire whether any such actions are pending.

2. Contact the physician's peers to determine his or her general reputation in the community.

3. Contact malpractice insurers to verify the practitioner's insurance status and to obtain claims and settlement history.

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