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Tip of the week: Track the expiration date on physicians' licenses

Medical Staff Leader Connection, October 21, 2010

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All licenses should be verified at initial credentialing and reappointment, as well as at expiration. Some licensing boards allow a grace period, so always ensure that you check with the licensing board to determine whether it allows one. The MSP should ensure that primary source verification has occurred prior to the actual date of the expiration. Once a license is expired, the applicant should not be allowed to practice. Check your hearing and appeal plan for how to implement automatic suspensions.

Regardless of whether it concerns a physician or an allied health professional (AHP), your organization should use the same license verification process. Send reminder notices to individuals in advance if the organization deems it is necessary. Remember, maintaining current credentials is the licensee’s responsibility. Sending a reminder letter is simply a courtesy, not a requirement.

Once a license has expired, if an applicant has failed to renew, your organization should place him or her on automatic suspension. A suspension notice should go out to the applicant as well as the department chair and any applicable departments (i.e., surgery, pharmacy, admitting, etc.). If the individual is an AHP, you should also notify his or her sponsoring physician. Some organizations have mechanisms in place to deactivate the physician from the clinical systems to ensure that he or she is unable to admit or attend to patients.
Reinstatement should not occur until the MSP has received primary source verification. Verification that the physician has submitted the applicable fees to the board is not verification that the license has been renewed. You must have confirmation that the licensing board has renewed the license (either electronic verification or verbal verification—a copy of the certificate is not considered primary source verification). Your organization can then send reinstatement notices to the appropriate individuals.

This week’s tip is from The Credentialing Coordinator’s Handbook by Anne Roberts, CPMSM, CPCS, now available at a discounted price!
 

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