Archive for October, 2009

Contest entry: Practitioner quality summary form

Happy Free Form Friday!

A reader sent in this form to help streamline the peer review process.

Kathy J. Szary, medical staff services coordinator and executive assistant at Grinnell (IA) Regional Medical Center, shared her story and tool for the The Greeley Medical Staff Institute Symposium contest. She said,

I work in a one-person office in a rural hospital in Iowa. I was fortunate enough several years ago to be able to purchase a credentialing software program to help with the credentialing process.

My dilemma was how to get my arms around the peer review process. I had written a proposal for a quality software program to compliment my credentialing software program in 2007 for the 2008 budget, but it was not approved due to limited financial resources available.

My solution was to develop an Excel spreadsheet to track this information and print reports as needed for reappointment and CMS surveys.

After each peer review committee meeting (medicine case review committee, OB committee, and surgical case review committee, and medical staff executive committee, as needed), I collect the review forms, organize them by practitioner, and then input the information from the review form into the Excel spreadsheet database. I am then able to hide rows that I do not need to print a report for a specific practitioner that accompanies their recredentialing application, or as requested during a CMS survey. The review forms are then placed in the practitioner’s peer review file.

The key for the Excel spreadsheet includes the following:
status: MS (medical staff) or AHP (allied health professional)
type: MCR (medicine case review)
SCR (surgical case review)
OB (OB committee)
Rdm (random)
Oth (Other)

Our peer review policy states that there will be a minimum of ten charts selected at random and reviewed prior to the reappointment process, hence, the “random” classification. I use “other” classification for such things as events taken to the MSEC and then document in the “action/follow-up” column what action was taken.

Thanks for sharing! You can download the Practitioner Quality Summary Here (Excel) .

That concludes The Greeley Medical Staff Institute Symposium contest.

Thanks so much to all the participants, and congratulations to the winners! You can find a listing of all the forms, tools, and tips here.

Audio clip: Durable medical devices and their hidden costs

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.

Let’s get Medical Staff Services Awareness Week off to a running start!

As I’m sure many of you are aware, Medical Staff Services Awareness Week is November 1-7. To get the celebrations off to a bang, I thought I’d ask some MSPs what this upcoming week means to them and how being an MSP has shaped their lives. Here’s what Kathleen Tafel, medical staff services consultant and former manager, medical staff services at Ellis Hospital in Schenectady, NY had to say:
 
I came to the world of credentialing through the good fortune of an interview with two individuals: the director of medical affairs and the chief medical officer. They assessed a myriad of talents, both hard and soft (computer skills, medical terminology, meeting organization, supervisory and leadership, committee participation and leadership) and matched them to the skill-set they were looking for to fulfill the manager position for Medical Staff Services. 

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Professional group expels physician who treated octuplet’s mother

Are celebrity practitioners held to different professional standards compared to non-celebrity practitioners, such as the ones on your medical staff? One professional group recently answered that question with a resounding no.

The American Society for Reproductive Medicine expelled Michael Kamrava, MD, the physician who became famous for treating Nadya Suleman, the mother of octuplets, according to an October 20 Associated Press article. The society didn’t release many details about the practitioner’s expulsion, but did say that it wasn’t due to his work with any one patient.

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What new Clinical Privilege White Papers do you need?, Poll II

Thanks to those of you who took our poll in August! We have papers underway for the two procedures that received the most votes: Diagnostic angiography and directional coronary atherectomy. Which Clinical Privilege White Papers would you like to see updated next?

And don’t forget to let us know what other new Clinical Privilege White Papers you would like by using the comment boxes below. We’re researching the suggestions left by readers in the last poll and hope to start putting together new papers soon!

Some physicians have trouble alerting others of potential mistakes

Physicians may not have an easy time speaking up when they see a medical mistake waiting to happen, says Mary J. Voutt-Goos RN, BSN, CCRN, director patient safety initiatives in the Office of Clinical Quality and Safety at the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit.

I interviewed Mary for the November Medical Staff Briefing article “Joint Commission Alert puts leaders behind the wheel of patient safety: Steps for navigating the road ahead” and decided to ask our physician and MSP readers why they think speaking up is so difficult. Check out this article excerpt and let me know what you think:

Through surveys, Voutt-Goos learned that senior physicians also find it difficult to point out potential errors to their peers, although the exact reason isn’t clear. Voutt-Goos plans to conduct further focus groups to pinpoint why.

Regardless of why senior staff members have difficulty speaking up, the message is clear. “If you have difficulty speaking up to your colleagues in those situations, think about how much harder it must be for people lower in the hierarchy, like residents, nurses, technicians, and patients,” Voutt-Goos says.

Sample medical staff leadership retreat agenda

Looking to implement medical staff leadership retreats at your facility but not sure where to start? Check out “Tips for a successful medical staff leadership retreat: Involve leaders in training the next generation” in the November issue of Medical Staff Briefing. Along with some great tips, such as limiting retreats to medical executive committee members, Swedish Medical Center in Englewood, CO, contributed a sample agenda.  I hope this helps get your facility retreat-ready!

Contest entry: Note-taking form

Happy Free Form Friday! Here’s another great form that came in for The Greeley Medical Staff Institute Symposium contest.

Tommie Cooper, CPMSM, director of medical staff services at Sky Ridge Medical Center, developed this clever note-taking form for physicians. To prevent them from inadvertently walking away with documents that shouldn’t leave the meeting room, Tommie prints them on colored paper (a different color for every month) so that everyone is aware of what documents are coming and going.

Thanks for sharing, Tommie! You can download the note-taking form (Word doc.) here .

Remember, there’s still time to submit your contest entries to win two free seats to The Greeley Medical Staff Institute Symposium. Find contest details here!

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

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 provided 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 email me at eberry@hcpro.com with your name and contact information.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Best,

Emily Berry
Associate Editor

Contest entry: Disruptive physician policy

It’s an issue every institution unfortunately has to deal with – disruptive physicians.

Debi Davis, CPMSM, director of medical staff services at Cumberland Medical Center, sent in this disruptive physician policy to share with others as part of her entry into The Greeley Medical Staff Institute Symposium contest.

You can download the disruptive physician policy (Word doc.) here.

There’s still time to submit your best practices, tools, or tips to win two free seats to The Greeley Medical Staff Institute Symposium contest.