Credentialing & Privileging

Ethics for the MSP

Credentialing Resource Center Connection, November 8, 2007

Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to Credentialing Resource Center Connection!

Sally J. Pelletier, CPMSM, CPCS, is a consultant with The Greeley Company, a division of HCPro, Inc., specializing in the areas of credentialing and privileging.

Dear credentialing colleague:

Congratulations fellow MSPs! Medical Staff Services Awareness Week is here (it occurs annually during the first week of November). Make sure you take time to educate others about our profession and also to reflect on your own role in helping to provide safe, quality patient care. 

As an MSP, have you ever been asked to do something that was, or seemed to be, inappropriate? For example:

  • For "favors" from an individual on your medical staff, perhaps to push through an application?
  • To process a locum tenens expeditiously even though you are juggling multiple priorities, thus putting your other work on hold?
  • To circumvent the full credentialing verification process in lieu of getting someone on staff quickly because everyone knows this physician is "a good guy" with no issues?
  • To falsify documentation because a survey is looming in the near future?
  • To give "the full scoop" to a family member about one of the practitioners on your medical staff?


Recently, I presented to the Colorado State Association Medical Staff Services, (thank you CAMSS for inviting me) and they specifically asked me to include an open discussion related to ethics for MSPs as part of my presentation. 

This topic stirred some insightful discussions related to the ethical dilemmas posed by the relationships between MSPs and various individuals, including members of the medical staff, administration, patients and their families, and even other MSPs. The group discussion focused on different approaches to handling difficult situations that can arise. We found that sometimes there are very black and white solutions, such as adhering to existing policies and procedures, while at other times there are no easy answers as to how an MSP should proceed. Often an MSP can feel caught in the middle of issues and may wonder where his or her loyalties should lie: to the administration or to the medical staff?  The MSP needs to know and adhere to the proper lines of authority and to handle all interactions professionally while adhering to established policies, procedures, and regulatory requirements.

Confidentiality is another area that MSPs must appropriately manage. Other MSPs may ask that a fellow MSP share information "off the record". Families, too, can unknowingly create uncomfortable situations for MSPs. In such cases the MSP must balance his or her need to maintain confidential information with the needs of patients and family members. Well-constructed releases, as well as policies and procedures relating to the maintenance of confidential documents and the release of information, can provide guidance and should be strictly adhered to.

While I was "Googling" in an attempt to determine whether ethics was a subject that could truly be taught, my research revealed this to be an age-old query. "Almost 2,500 years ago, the philosopher Socrates debated the question with his fellow Athenians. Socrates' position was clear: Ethics consists of knowing what we ought to do, and such knowledge can be taught," according to a Santa Clara University (CA) Web site (http://www.scu.edu/ethics/publications/iie/v1n1/taught.html).

NAMSS has established a Code of Ethics for all MSPs who are certified either as a CPCS or as a CPMSM. The NAMSS Code of Ethics is as follows: "NAMSS certificants shall abide by the ethical principles developed to safeguard the public and to promote quality patient care through the support of the healthcare organization and its functions. NAMSS Certificants shall share knowledge, foster educational opportunities, and encourage personal and professional growth through continued self-improvement and application of current advancements in the profession. NAMSS Certificants shall refrain from conduct deemed harmful to the public or inappropriate to the profession."

Wise words for us all. Have a great Medical Staff Services Week!

Remember, credentialing has no other master than the patient.

That's all for this week.

All the best,

Sally J. Pelletier, CPMSM, CPCS
http://www.greeley.com/consulting.cfm



Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to Credentialing Resource Center Connection!

Most Popular

Related Articles