Outpatient Surgery Magazine, providing current information on Surgical Services, Surgical Facility Administration, Outpatient Surgery News and Trends, OR Excellence and more.
Issue link: http://outpatientsurgery.uberflip.com/i/476296
4 3 M A R C H 2 0 1 5 | O U T P AT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E VETTING Credentialing Your Docs B efore you grant a surgeon privi- leges at your facility , you want to thoroughly vet his credentials. Here are 3 steps to do just that. 1. Verify credentials. Collect and verify the academic background, training, licensure, cer- tifications, any criminal history, proof of pro- fessional liability coverage for established minimum levels and at least a 5-year history of professional liability claims before granting privileges. Verify the clinician's cre- dentials yourself, unless a reputable credentialing organization or other such entity can provide you with sufficient documentation. 2. Verify competency. In addition to the documents necessary to credential a physician, verify the provider is competent to perform the procedures for which he is seeking privileges. Competency, or the ability to safely and successfully perform a pro- cedure without supervision, is generally determined through a proctor. This involves supervision and monitoring of the physician or other healthcare clinician who is apply- ing for privileges by a provider already privileged at your facility. The proctor will moni- tor the applicant's performance for an established number of procedures and deter- mine if the applicant displays the adequate knowledge and expertise to perform the procedure without further supervision. You should always use a proctor to verify com- petence when any credentialed medical or allied health staff request privileges to per- form a new procedure. 3. Ensure liability coverage. Include a current certificate of insurance or declara- tion page in the credentialing file, and update it each policy year. Establish the mini- mum acceptable limits of malpractice coverage and verify the physician or other healthcare practitioners meet the requirement. Ensuring the providers have appropri- ate liability coverage reduces the risk that your facility may be held financially responsi- ble for a provider who lacked malpractice coverage or the personal assets to cover any assigned monetary damages. — Karen Wright, RN, BSN, ARM, CPHRM