Nowadays, it's really important to understand the meaning of credentialing and what means when a physician is credentialed or have privileges to treat you. If the physician doesn't have one or both, it can mean treatment options for you are strictly limited.
Unsurprisingly, every patient searches for a competent and appropriately trained physician. Unfortunately, fraud is something to be aware of. For example, in California, two unqualified individuals posed as doctors which led to patient harm.
That's why patients should know about credentialing - a process, that verifies qualification, training, and practice history of a physician, which protects patients from being duped. It also protects you from those providers who had sanctions levied against their license. To get credentials, physicians should fill out an application and submit it, but prior to that he or she should make sure no little detail is missing. Work history and specialty boards are one of many things that should be carefully checked before submission.
Copies of all documents - residency certificates, medical degrees, etc, - should accompany the application. Physicians should also provide professional references that can prove the competency. A declaration, which confirms that the physician has never been fired from a job for competency issues, is also required. All in all, there is a long list of documents that should be provided in order to start the credentialing process. Among them, there is a confirmation of not being an addict, convinced felon or hasn't been disciplined for illegal or questionable activity. Then every hospital has a committee that reviews the application and then grants or declines privileges and credentials to provide services in the facility.
Before the committee grants credentials or privileges, all information is thoroughly checked and verified. This makes sense, because too many people make mistakes, embellish or even lie on their applications. For example, the biggest fraud in history is lying about graduation from one of the best Universities and having a Ph.D. The job of credentialing committee is to check up on all the details. In the example above, that person managed to hoodwink all verifies and was picked up much later by accident.
Physicians should also go through the process of -re-credentialing at least every three years, although they can do it more frequently. Re-credentialing is necessary to provide all changed information for verification. This process is almost identical with the credentialing process; however, practitioner's work history, education, and training aren't verified. Re-credentialing is necessary to check physician complaints and sanctions, so that they can react on safety and quality issues that arise.
Simply put, credentials are a proof of skills and competence. Verification of all licenses, education, training, insurance, identification and all history related to professional activity doesn't leave a chance of fraud. It may sound quite simple, but this process is really complicated and time-consuming and physicians have to go through all this to get verification. Those physicians, who understand that this process is necessary, care both about the facility and patients. And patient safety should always be the first priority.
Premier Credentialing Solutions, LLC has the best credentialing and licensing solutions for you and your business; We proudly offer Provider Enrollment & Physician Credentialing, Medicare – Provider Enrollment & Revalidation, Medical Licensure Services, and Full-Service Credentialing For Billers / Billing Companies. Call (800) 455-4773 for a free, no-obligation consultation.
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