Recent Articles
Enter to win a free registration to the 2010 Credentialing Resource Center Symposium
Each month, we will give away one free registration to the upcoming Credentialing Resource Center Symposium in Las Vegas on May 6-7, 2010. We will give away three free seats—one in February, one in March, and one in April.
To enter, submit a sample tool or policy to share with your fellow MSPs. (Submit the tool by emailing it to eberry@hcpro.com). The tools can be any examples that have helped you do your job better. These sample documents will be posted to the CRC Blog throughout the month. At the end of the contest, we will gather up all eligible entries and post a “Best of CRC Symposium contest entries” report on the blog to download.
We will draw a winner at random from among eligible entries at the end of each month and notify the winner by email, as well as announce the winner on the CRC Blog. Once you enter the contest, your entry remains valid for the remainder of the contest, although multiple entries are allowed. Winners will be responsible for paying for airfare and hotel, but not the registration fee. Those who have already registered for the conference are not eligible to win.
Please note: you must either be the owner of the submitted document or have the right to grant permission to reprint the document. By entering this contest, contestants hereby represent and warrant that they have the right to grant the permission to republish the submitted tool or policy and hereby grant to HCPro, Inc., its licensees and assigns, the right to republish such selection as outlined above in any works, derivative or otherwise, published by HCPro, Inc., or its affiliates in any media now known or hereafter devised throughout the world.
Here are the rest of the contest rules:
- There is no responsibility or liability for an entrant’s inability to access www.CredentialingResourceCenter.com.
- Potential winners will be notified by e-mail.
- Decisions made by the judges are final.
- By entering the contest, the entrant allows his/her name to be reprinted on the Web site and/or Briefings on Credentialing or Credentialing Resource Center Connection e-newsletters without compensation.
- The prize is not redeemable in cash and must be accepted as awarded.
- Employees (or immediate family members of employees) of HCPro, Inc., are not eligible to win.
- HCPro, Inc. reserves the right to amend and change these rules as it deems necessary. Varying contests will have various rules.
- By entering this contest, you agree to accept and abide by these rules.
Why did you pursue CPCS or CPMSM certification?
I recently spoke with Sally Pelletier, CPMSM, CPCS, president of Best Practices Consulting Group in Intervale, NH, and senior consultant at The Greeley Company, for an article in the upcoming issue of Medical Staff Briefing about CPCS and CPMSM certification. We got to talking, and I asked what probably seemed like a question with an obvious answer: Why did you pursue certification? Here is what she had to say:
That one is easy. As with any goal you set for yourself, it’s a measure of success and it comes with a sense of accomplishment. There is something special about having those initials after your name that mark you as having reached a milestone in your profession. It’s the uncertainty that comes with wondering if you can do it and then realizing you can!
Reaching milestones builds confidence and character, which creates new paths and directions for any profession. Obtaining certification can lead to the courage to participate more assertively in meetings and to explore volunteer opportunities at both a state and national level.
It affirms that passion you have that you are the first line of defense in patient safety and you have attained experience and knowledge that allows you to be really good at what you do. It’s a sense of belonging that goes beyond being a NAMSS member.
In addition, there is the expectation that comes with maintaining your certification and the quest to obtain the proper amount of continuing education credits, which is a reward in and of itself because you are constantly refreshing your knowledge base.
All good things take effort and sacrifice! The rewards are worth it!
What drove you to study for and take the CPMSM and/or CPCS exams? Any tips, advice, or wisdom to share with your fellow MSPs? Click the comment box below!
Free form Friday: Organizationwide Conflict of Interest policy
www.HCMarketplace.com
This week’s form offers a sneak peek at one of the policies from The Top 40 Medical Staff Policies and Procedures, Fourth Edition. It is an organizationwide conflict of interest policy and may be customized to fit your organization’s need.
Click here to download the Organizationwide conflict of interest policy.
The book is available online at www.HCMarketplace.com.
Update: NPDB’s Section 1921 published in Federal Register
NPDB’s Section 1921
HHS published the National Practitioner Data Bank’s (NPDB) Section 1921 update in the Federal Register on January 28. NPDB announced plans for the publication in a recent press release.
Click here to download a PDF of the Federal Register.
In addition to a detailed description of the update, the Federal Register also includes charts (such as the one on the left) that offer a side-by-side comparison of the HCQIA (NPDB), Section 1921 (NPDB), and Section 1128E (HIPDB) to answer the questions:
- Who reports?
- What information is available?
- Who can query?
Breaking news: Implementation of NPDB’s Section 1921
The National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB) issued a press release earlier this week about the implementation of Section 1921, which expands the practitioner information the data bank collects. More details about the new Section 1921 regulation will be published in the Federal Register within the next five to 10 days.
Nevertheless, the press release revealed that Section 1921 will expand the information contained in the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB) to include:
- Adverse licensure actions taken against all licensed healthcare practitioners
- Any negative actions or findings by State licensing agencies, peer review organizations, and private accreditation organizations against all health care practitioners and entities
Don’t let semantics stop you when writing job descriptions
One of the biggest pitfalls MSPs can face when writing their job descriptions is using terminology that diminishes their managerial role. The following are some examples of good and better ways to describe MSP responsibilities that use strong action verbs.
(Note: For more advice about writing job descriptions, check out the March issue of Briefings on Credentialing, available in mid-February on www.CredentialingResourceCenter.com).
Source: Don’t Get No Respect? Maybe It Is Your Job Description!, created for Annual NAMSS Conference 2008, by Carol S. Cairns, CPMSM, CPCS, and Donna Goestenkors, CPMSM; and Sally Pelletier, CPMSM, CPCS. Reprinted with permission.
ABP certification change sparks confusion
On January 1, 2010, the American Board of Pediatrics’ (ABP) announced an amendment to its board certification process that may change the future maintenance of certification (MOC). Starting in 2010, newly issued certificates of board certification will not contain a specific end date. This means that copies of this certificate cannot be used to verify a physician’s board certification status. Rather, a physician’s board certification status will be linked to his or her status in the MOC process, which can change over time depending on whether the physician is up to date in the MOC process. Medical staffs can verify MOC on the ABP Web site.
This change presents several questions for MSPs including:
- When and how often should MSPs check MOC status?
- Should medical staffs or specialty boards track the continuing education of certified physicians?
Although the ABP is still working on clarifying this topic for the field, MSPs can read more about the issue in the latest edition of Medical Staff Leader Connection.
Check back on the Credentialing Resource Center Blog for more information about this evolving topic.
Physician health programs offer high success rate for impaired practitioners
If you’ve helped arrange treatment for a practitioner with substance abuse problems, chances are you’re familiar with state physician health programs (PHP).
Recent studies of 16 state PHPs indicate an outstanding success rate with physicians monitored by state PHPs over an average 7.2 years (source: How are addicted Physicians treated? A national survey of physician health programs (2009), Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment). Of 904 physicians, 78% completed this monitoring without relapse. Of those who did relapse, additional treatment resulted in over 90% doing well at the end of the study period.
Want to learn more about MSPs’ responsibilities in these matters? Check out “Substance abuse policies: Know your role in testing, treating, and recredentialing practitioners,” in the February issue of Briefings on Credentialing.
Free form Friday: Medical staff services department reciprocal audit tool
For the February issue of Medical Staff Briefing, I spoke with three MSPs who conduct reciprocal audits on each other’s medical staff services departments. Marna Sorensen, CPMSM, director of medical staff services, and Michelle Zachary, CPCS, credentialing specialist at Portneuf Regional Medical Center in Pocatello, ID regularly exchange visits with Chris Hinton, CPCS, medical staff coordinator at St. Luke’s Magic Valley Medical Center in Twin Falls, ID. Marna and Michelle look over Chris’ files, policies, and procedures and offer their advice for improvement, and Chris does the same for Marna and Michelle. It offers a low-cost way for both parties to hone their skills. It’s also a great way to build professional relationships.
If you engage in reciprocal audits with a medical staff services department in your area, use this reciprocal audit tool to help you determine whether your colleague’s files are in tip-top shape. Just work your way from the top down to determine whether each file includes all of the necessary information—you may catch something that your colleague unintentionally overlooked! To learn more about reciprocal audits, check out February Medical Staff Briefing.
Please note that this tool is an example, and you should work with your medical staff services department to modify it to fit your facility’s needs.
Poll question: What’s in your conflict of interest policy?
Is your organization’s conflict of interest policy prescriptive or filled with open-ended disciplinary options? Take our poll and see how your organization compares to others.
If you didn’t see an answer option below that describes your organization’s policy, share the details of your organization’s policy in the comment boxes below.
