HCPro.com - Credentialing Resource Center Connection

Have a Happy Thanksgiving: Credentialing Resource Center Connection will resume on December 4

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:52:00 GMT

In light of the holiday, the Credentialing Resource Center Connection will not publish next week. You will receive your next issue on December 4. For the latest credentialing news next week, please check out our blog at www.CredentialingResourceCenter.com/blog.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Pass it on to your medical staff: New Web site has variety of learning tools

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:47:00 GMT

Whether you’re in charge of tracking CME hours or finding remedial education opportunities after an OPPE assessment, MSPs often find themselves introducing medical staff members to new learning tools.

Keeping Up with Emergency Medicine is the latest educational Web site MSPs can introduce to medical staff members. It was profiled on the Delta Locum Tenens blog earlier this month. What’s great about this Web site is that it summarizes journal articles for busy emergency medicine practitioners in a variety of formats: podcasts, written summaries, and visual content, such as pictures and videos.

Check out the Keeping Up Web site today while it’s still free for everyone to access; staring in 2010 subscription rates will apply.

Poll questions: How does your medical staff and/or hospital screen for controlled substances?

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:41:00 GMT

This week features two poll questions about screening for controlled substances. Feel free to answer one or both of the questions.

Poll question # 1 asks does your medical staff and/or hospital screen for controlled substances?

Click here to take poll #1.

Poll questions # 2 asks does your organization have different controlled substance screening requirements for contracted practitioners versus non-contracted practitioners (i.e. traditional medical staff members)?

Click here to take poll #2.

Do you share educational information?

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:33:00 GMT

Anne R. Buss, CPMSM, CPCS, is a medical staff consultant based in Fayetteville, AR.

Dear readers,

I noticed a newsletter from the NPDB-HIPDB on the desk of a manager I was working with and asked if I could borrow it. She said sure, and asked that after I finished with it if I could hole punch it and put it in a binder on the shelf in the break room with the other periodicals. She explained that she keeps these newsletters because she wants the credentialing professionals working in our medical staff office to be well informed. She said the group discusses the updates at department meetings; the binders were there for individual reading.

People take in information in many different ways, she said. Some listen to tapes, or speakers, and you see their heads nodding in agreement indicating that they understand. Then there are those people who learn best by reading and have to see it in black and white. Others have to have hands-on approach; they learn by doing.

There are two employees in the office studying for the certification exam. The facility where they work is not inclined to support the educational efforts of the medical staff office. Some facilities are like that; budgets are tight and travel and seminars are not a priority. To help fund important educational efforts, the local medical staff services association group uses a portion of the dues assessment to purchase CDs, study guides, videos, and periodicals that they loan to MSPs. To help the two employees study, the manager borrowed educational CDs that they could listen to as they commuted to work.

With the strides in technology, there are many ways that information can be shared. Up-to-date information is at our finger tips on an hourly basis. This is as true for MSPs’ educational materials as it is for medical staff information. No longer do we have to wait for the next edition of standards, rules and regulations, or best practices. We have gone from handing out copies of our bylaws and rules & regulations, to putting them on floppy disks, then CDs, and now flash drives. Knowledge is power. Spread it around.

Remember, those who are afraid to ask are afraid to learn.

All the best,

Anne R. Buss, CPMSM, CPCS

HHS and The Joint Commission produce communication video

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:01:00 GMT

As one of the six general competencies promoted by The Joint Commission, patient-practitioner communication is an important skill for practitioners to possess. Effectively using that skill can be challenging when hearing loss or language barriers exist.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights and The Joint Commission released a video, “Improving Patient-Provider Communication,” to help train practitioners, according to a November 11 press release.

“Our goal is to ensure that all individuals, including those with limited English proficiency and those deaf or hard of hearing, have access to safe, quality health care, without facing unlawful discrimination,” says Georgina Verdugo, director of the HHS Office for Civil Rights. “Effective communication between the patient and the health care professional is essential to achieving that goal.”

Editor's clarification: Encrypted flash drives

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:57:00 GMT

In last week’s column, Anne Roberts, CPMSM, CPCS wrote that her hospital was looking into encrypted flash drives.

To clarify, the reason for the encrypted flash drives is so that no additional information can be added onto the drive. For example, if the hospital provides a practitioner with a flash drive containing policies and procedures, the hospital wants to ensure the practitioner can not use the flash drive to download confidential patient health information (PHI) and risk violating HIPAA regulations. Although the practitioner could potentially download documents containing PHI onto a personal flash drive not provided by the hospital, the hospital wants to take extra precautions and not provide a mechanism that would allow for this potential HIPAA violation.

Featured blog post: National Nurse Practitioner Week highlights primary care shortage

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:49:00 GMT

If you haven’t already heard about it from the nurse practitioners (NP) at your organization, this week is National Nurse Practitioner (NP) Week. NPs are harnessing their spotlight to shine the light on the shortage of primary care providers in America—and how their workforce can help combat that shortage.

Click here to visit our blog for more about nurse practitioners.

California's licensing delays offer learning opportunities for medical staffs

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:41:00 GMT

Dear readers,

A medical staff’s credentialing process is similar to a state medical board’s process for issuing licenses. Both involve complicated background checks and copious amounts of paperwork. Therefore, medical staffs can learn best practices from medical boards by monitoring their processes.

The California medical board is currently experiencing a delay in processing applications, according to a November 9 amednews.com article. Reasons for this delay include increased applications, increased complexity in the types of applications the board receives, elimination of overtime pay for the individuals who process the application, and state ordered furloughs. To help eliminate one of these factors and to facilitate the processing of applications, the California Medical Association filed a lawsuit to stop the furloughs.

California’s logjam is similar to the problems that faced the Texas Medical Board in 2007; those problems were profiled in the October 2007 issue of Briefings on Credentialing. Texas resolved its problems by hiring more staff to process applications, according to the amednews.com article.

If your medical staff is experiencing a delay in processing applications, here are steps to take to resolve the problem:

Identify the source(s) of the problem.

Eliminate nonessential steps in the credentialing, privileging, and reappointment processes.

Maximize your current technology, including the Internet, or consider purchasing new software.

Involve the applicant in the process, especially if his or her letters of recommendation are past due.

Here more employees for your office. It’s a dramatic step to take, but if your office’s delays are due to a long-term increase in volume, it may just be the right solution.

Sincerely,
Emily Berry
Associate Editor

New technology not better in bypass surgery, study finds

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:31:00 GMT

Bypass heart surgeries used to be conducted using heart-lung machines, which carried with it a risk of stroke. Now, one in five bypass surgeries are conducted without the pump, leaving the patient’s heart beating on its own. This new technique isn’t as risk-free as previously thought, according to a study in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The study results initially showed that patients on the pump had similar outcomes to those off the pump, according to a November 5 Associated Press article. “But a year later, the off-pump group had worse outcomes. About 10 percent had either died, had a heart attack, or needed another bypass or procedure, compared with about 7 percent of the on-pump group,” the article states.

Tip of the week: Include specific credentialing details in your CVO contract

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:29:00 GMT

Cheryl Schilke, RN, CPMSM, director of Synernet CVO in Portland, ME, writes contracts that explain the credentialing application her organization uses and which party (CVO, medical staff, or practitioner) is responsible for providing information for the individual sections.

Schilke also tells potential clients that one of their responsibilities is to alert her to any changes in an applicant’s status. This is beneficial because if an applicant contacts the medical staff to withdraw his or her application, the medical staff can alert the CVO to stop the credentialing process thus saving time.

This week’s tip is from Business basics: Find the perfect fit for your medical staff and CVO relationship through pinpointed questions in Briefings on Credentialing, December 2009. Archived online at www.CredentialingResourceCenter.com.

Featured blog post: MSPs share their thoughts during National Medical Staff Services Awareness Week

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:25:00 GMT

During National Medical Staff Services Awareness Week, we asked MSPs to share their thoughts about the profession with us. Liz Jones, associate editor, interviewed Carole LaPine, MSA, CPMSM, CPCS, manager for physician services at Trinity Health in Novi, MI. As a veteran MSP, Carole had a lot to share. Click here to visit our blog and read the interview.

Maintaining privacy and security in credentialing documents

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:21:00 GMT

Anne Roberts, CPMSM, CPCS, is the director of medical affairs at Children's Medical Center of Dallas, where she oversees the medical administration, graduate medical education, and medical staff services departments.

Dear readers,

The Healthcare Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is a concern for MSPs as well as physicians.

One of the areas within the medical staff services department (MSSD) where we’ve had to consider HIPAA rules are with our flash drives. We have not protected or encrypted the flash drives in the past. We put all of our board materials and new physician orientation materials on a flash drive for the convenience of our medical staff. We have asked our compliance department to look into encrypted flash drives.

Another privacy concern that MSPs deal with is the education and orientation of medical staff members. MSPs must ensure that members of the medical staff have completed required training so that the physicians can comply with HIPAA regulations. Orientation is typically tied to initial appointment. However, refresher courses should be required at a minimum of every two years whenever their review is due.

Development of a social networking policy is also one of the privacy issues that we are faced with today. MSPs must work with their new members to ensure that they have a clear understanding of social networking. Some social networking Web sites allow users to maintain private information and some do not. Our organization also has a lot of laptops and blackberries that are issued to staff members and there is a risk that these devices will fall into the wrong hands. The IT department, MSPs, and compliance officer need to work collaboratively on these guidelines to maintain confidentiality should, for example, a practitioner leave a lap top with private information in an airport.

Remember, clear, effective communication is the key to success!

That's all for this week.

All the best,
Anne Roberts, CPMSM, CPCS

Ask the expert: How did the new specialty certification for child abuse pediatrics evolve?

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:17:00 GMT

Have you ever wondered exactly how specialty boards develop new certifications? The evolution process for each certification share common elements.

In the case of child abuse pediatrics, a group of practitioners petitioned the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) to offer the certification, says Gail McGuiness, MD, executive vice president of the American Board of Pediatrics.

“There comes a point in time where it has matured enough where the practitioners will come to the board and say we wish to ask the board to consider giving a certificate, developing the process for the examination, and then, ultimately, for maintenance of certification in that area, and that’s what happened with child abuse,” says McGuinness.

Once the board receives the petition, it examines the field, including how many practitioners are practicing within this specialty, what professional groups and scholarly journals exist to promote it, and—most importantly, says McGuinness—whether the development of the new specialty will benefit children.

After the ABP votes to approve certification, it petitions the American Board of Medical Specialties, its umbrella organization, to offer the certification.

“By doing that, we hear from anyone who may disagree, who may think it’s not a good thing, may have a differing opinion,” she says. “Once it’s approved by ABMS, our board, not ABMS, develops the examination.”

ABP publishes the content outlines for subspecialty certifying examinations on its Web site. Practitioners can access this information for child abuse pediatrics at http://tinyurl.com/yh75bye.

This week’s question and answer if from the December issue of Briefings on Credentialing, available on the Credentialing Resource Center Web site in mid-November.

Audio clip: Durable medical devices and the lack of cost transparency

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:02:00 GMT

If you’re searching for information to keep your medical device review committees on top of the latest industry news, check out this audio clip from Health Leaders Media. John Bardis, CEO of MedAssets, a healthcare supply chain and revenue cycle management company, discusses his crusade against the lack of transparency in durable medical devices. This type of financial information is important to keep in mind if your medical staff is considering purchasing new equipment or expanding clinical privileges to include new devices.

Featured blog post: Let's get National Medical Staff Services Awareness Week off to a running start!

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:59:00 GMT

Have you started making plans for National Medical Staff Services Awareness Week celebrations yet? Check out our post on the Credentialing Resource Center blog to read what the week means to your peers and be sure to leave your own thoughts – along with plans for your awesome celebrations!

Send us your National Medical Staff Services Awareness Week photos

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:55:00 GMT

Dear readers,

Get those cameras ready! Next week is National Medical Staff Services Awareness Week, and we want to see how you celebrate. Whether you’re planning on hosting a party with your state medical staff services association or celebrating with coworkers at an in-office reception, send us your snap shots, and we’ll post them on the Credentialing Resource Center blog.

Although this year’s official recognition week lasts from November 1-7, it’s important for others in your organization to understand the valuable role you play year round. This understanding can help medical staff members work with you more efficiently and can help clarify your job description, potentially elevating your salary.

The following tips can help others in your organization gain a better understanding of your role.

If your medical staff services department has a Web page, include a Q&A section about the role of the MSP. Use the Web site to clarify that the competency burden remains on applicants during the credentialing process, not on MSPs or the medical staff leaders. You can also include contact information and a list of upcoming meetings. This information is especially helpful to recent graduates and new medical staff leaders who are less familiar with the medical staff services department

Hold periodic meetings with the human resources department and recruitment office. These opportunities will allow you to explain your role and clarify questions they may have about your responsibilities. For example, this is an ideal forum to explain the reasons why the human resources department should process clinical assistants, but not advance practice professionals. It’s also an opportunity to describe the credentialing process to physician recruiters so they have a better understanding of why the medical staff can’t process a new applicant as quickly as they’d like.

Let National Medical Staff Services Awareness Week be your springboard for advocating for your role and showcasing your talents year round.

Sincerely,
Emily Berry
Associate Editor

Editor's pick: FPPE and OPPE are privilege-specific

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 19:56:00 GMT

FPPE and OPPE requirements raise the bar for anyone involved in privileging. The Joint Commission standards include language that requires these evaluations to be “privilege specific.” Imagine yourself with a privileging laundry list (and the practitioner requested all listed privileges). What should be proctored, monitored, chart reviewed, or subject to monitoring clinical practice patterns? When each privilege stands by itself, such as in laundry lists, documenting competency for each listed privilege is almost impossible. Register for a live free Webex demonstration of Core Privilege Plus on Tuesday, November 3 at 1:00 ET and learn why criteria-based privileges help medical staff organizations define and determine competency and meet regulatory requirements. To register, e-mail Maureen Coler at mcoler@hcpro.com or call 800-650-6787 extension 3741.

Play a part in building and test driving the next credentialing innovation

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 19:50:00 GMT

How often have you thrown up your hands in frustration when juggling the daily tasks of credentialing multiple providers, verifying physician competence, gathering data and documentation from multiple sources, and keeping up with the latest accreditation developments? What would you build if you were provided with the resources to create your ultimate credentialing solution? Now is the time to stop daydreaming. Partner with the Credentialing Resource Center to develop the next innovation in credentialing—your one stop for all the credentialing tools and resources you need. If you are interested in working with fellow credentialing professionals, consultants from The Greeley Company, and the editorial team at HCPro to create a resource that provides solutions to your top credentialing challenges, e-mail me at eberry@hcpro.com with your name and contact information.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Best,

Emily Berry
Associate Editor

Deadline extended for CRC Symposium speaker applications

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 19:47:00 GMT

Many thanks to everyone who has already submitted speaker applications for the 2010 Credentialing Resource Center Symposium.

We know that autumn is a busy conference season for MSPs, so we’ve decided to extend the deadline for applications to Monday, October 26. Click here to access the application.

There have been many outstanding contributions so far and we look forward to receiving additional submissions.

Physician with long history of misconduct finally caught by authorities

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 19:34:00 GMT

Despite being fired from three hospitals, Michael Roy Sharpe, MD, was never disciplined by a state medical board. He worked in a series of hospitals in Tennessee and Alabama, until recently when accusations of having sex with a 15 year-old patient led him to voluntarily give up his medical license, according to an October 12 Tennessean.com article.

Citing confidentiality rules, Tennessee health officials declined to comment on any investigations they may have conducted about Sharpe. However, Alabama medical licensing officials said Sharpe’s hospital firings weren’t listed in a federal physician databank.

It’s a scenario that happens when medical staffs don’t carry out a thorough disciplinary process, says Ilene Corina, founder of PULSE New York, a patient advocacy group. “It is too much trouble to go through the discipline process and I am pretty sure that like in many jobs, [doctors] are asked to resign quietly and give up their license, giving them the opportunity to get licensed in another state,” she was quoted in the article as saying.