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CRC Symposium: Photo slideshow
Our 12th annual Credentialing Resource Center Symposium may be finished, but the lessons learned will help you improve your medical staff services department throughout the year. Here are some of the photo highlights from this year’s show.
The weather is always beautiful in Las Vegas, and the fountains outside Caesars Palace make the view even more spectacular.
Moving inside, the colorful hotel registration desk helped welcome attendees to the conference.
Did you have a chance to stop by our bookstore? We were giving away complimentary copies of our newsletters and had special discounts for all of our books. (Yes, that’s me smiling next to Briefings on Credentialing.)
If you’ve attended a Core Privilege Plus demonstration, chances are you’ve heard Bryan Robbins, a specialist at CACTUS Software speaking. Attendees could meet the man behind the voice by stopping by the CACTUS booth in the exhibit hall.
Many of you also had a chance to say hello to our many speakers between sessions. (From left to right: Mark Smith, MD, MBA, CMSL; Sally Pelletier, CPMSM, CPCS; Emily Berry; and Carol Cairns, CPMSM, CPCS.)
We hope you enjoyed this year’s show. We look forward to seeing you at next year’s conference, May 6-7, 2010 at Caesar’s Palace, Las Vegas!
CRC Symposium: Bryan Robbins reports live from the Core Privilege Plus Software demo
Live from our Core Privilege Plus demo, Bryan Robbins, a specialist from CACTUS Software reports on what participants can expect. If you didn’t get a change to attend our lunchtime demo, but are still interested in learning more about it, contact Executive Editor Maureen Coler at mcoler@hcpro.com.
(Update: Check out the CRC photo slideshow to see a picture of Bryan!)
CRC Symposium: Mark Smith, MD reports live from Las Vegas
Greetings from the Credentialing Resource Center in sunny Las Vegas, NV! This morning kicked off our 12th annual Symposium. Listen to Mark Smith, MD, MBA, CMSL give participants a preview of what’s to come over the next several days.
Hot topic: Low-volume providers
The medical staff crowd is buzzing with questions regarding credentialing and privileging low- and no-volume practitioners. The topic gets hotter as more physicians abandon hospital care to focus on their more lucrative outpatient practices, which inevitably makes it difficult for the medical staff services department to assess their clinical competence.
The Greeley Company is addressing low- and no-volume providers in its new white paper: Low-Volume/No-Volume Practitioners: Best Practices for Competency, Privileging, and Strategy. Check out this excerpt:
A best practice is to develop your approach to low-volume/no-volume providers,
including the design and implementation of an effective outreach program, as part of a comprehensive strategic medical staff plan. In the past, healthcare organizations created physician recruitment plans based on the demographic analysis of current physician-to-population ratios and an aging analysis of current members on the medical staff roster. Such medical staff development plans were adequate for demonstrating community need and justifying recruitment and salary guarantee support, but they are no longer adequate to meet today’s challenges. Now, a strategic medical staff development plan needs to begin by recognizing the medical staff as one of the hospital’s most valuable resources.
If there is one thing that I’ve learned from all the buzz, it’s that this issue needs to be tackled from two angles: the credentialing and privileging issues related to low- and no-volume providers to help MSPs do their jobs more effectively, and strategic development planning spearheaded by leaders. If medical staff leaders aren’t tackling strategic planning issues, MSPs will have a more difficult time helping the hospital comply with the Joint Commission’s FPPE and OPPE standards.
I’d love to hear from you if your facility has questions or concerns regarding low- and no-volume practitioners. And of course, we’re always looking great tips, so e-mail me at ejones@hcpro.com if you want to share your formula for success! I’d also suggest picking up a copy of Assessing the Competency of Low-Volume Practitioners, Second Edition. I may be a bit biased, but I think it’s a great resource for MSPs and medical staff leaders alike.
Just for fun: How are you spending your CRC Symposium downtime?
This week’s poll question is a Credentialing Resource Center Symposium exclusive. We want to know how are you planning to spend your downtime at the CRC Symposium in sunny Las Vegas.
If you’ve got more fun time suggestions for your peers, let them know in the comment boxes below. Viva Las Vegas!
Sound booth: Setting the record straight on PA and LIP terminology
Patricia Spurlock, assistant director of professional affairs at the American Academy of Physician Assistants in Alexandria, VA, sets the record straight on a PA’s scope of practice.
Listen to her explain how the phrase LIP can be misused when it comes to PAs:
To learn more about PAs, including professional trends that may affect the credentialing office, check out the July issue of Briefings on Credentialing, available online in mid-June.
About 300 medical devices struck by Conflicker
Remember the computer virus Conflicker that made headlines weeks ago as a possible threat to personal computers? Although that fear proved mostly unfounded, now experts are seeing evidence of the virus in medical devices.
The problem occurred in devices, such as MRI machines, which were running an unpatched version of Microsoft. Researchers notices the affected devices were reaching out via the internet to get instructions, likely from the creators of Conflicker.
Although no patients were harmed, the incident provides a good learning opportunity for technology committees: medical devices aren’t immune to PC viruses.
Who’s your MSP understudy?
It’s going to be a busy week for me. Not so much because of what’s happening this week, but because of what’s not happening next week. I’ll be away from my desk attending the 12th Annual Credentialing Resource Center in Las Vegas. But my deadlines – they don’t get a break, so for the next five days I’ll be doubling up on my work.
It got me thinking about who takes over the role of MSP when you’re out of the office. I know from the conversations I’ve had in the past that most of you are probably yelling out the answer “No one!” right about now.
Free Form: Financial terms tip sheet
Got money on the brain? You’re not alone. From national news stories about the economy to your department’s own budget balancing act, chances are you’re spending more time with your calculator than you did in ninth grade algebra.
Although budgeting may not be the focus of your medical staff responsibilities, your department may be relying on you more than usual to help pinch pennies. This is probably especially true if you participate in a new technology assessment committee. The cost of high quality care may be priceless, but that new piece of surgical equipment your practitioners have their eyes on, it comes with a hefty price tag.
To help you manage you new role as a money maven, check out this financial terms tip sheet. It was developed by Intuitive Surgical, Inc., makers of the da Vinci surgical system.
Doctor loses privileges over verbal abuse claims; accuses hospital of retaliation
A doctor loses privileges at one Kentucky hospital due to allegedly abusing nurses, according to the Louisville, KY Courier-Journal. In one case, Christodulos Stavens, MD is reported to have sarcastically told one nurse who called to say a patient had no pulse and blue fingernails: “You’re the medical expert. What do you want me to do about it?”.
The cardiologist says he’s being retaliated against for helping open a competing hospital in the area, and says he’s only few feathers in the course of doing his job. As per the Courier-Journal:
“I’m always the advocate for the interests of the patient,” he said, acknowledging that “sometimes I need to step on some toes.”
Todd Morrison
Managing Editor
