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Credentialing immigrant HCWs

Emergency Management Alert, May 9, 2006

Q: With the relocation of many physicians and allied health professionals due to the recent hurricanes, how can a medical staff officer ensure that comprehensive credentialing is performed when information about affiliation, verification, and references is unavailable?

A: Any organization that is credentialing physicians who have moved from the hurricane-affected area should have the physicians identify their prior affiliations. Most hospitals or other facilities have contact information so that the organization can verify such basic information.

If the organization cannot get details about a physician's performance from his or her prior affiliated entity, the organization should check with any other entity with which the physician has relationships to see if malpractice actions have been filed. These could include professional associations, state boards of medicine by which the physician states he or she is licensed, and court filings in jurisdictions where the physician lived or worked.

A physician should also be asked to provide a release allowing the organization to contact his or her malpractice insurer to obtain the physician's practice record.

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