The Association for Ambulatory Health Care’s (AAAHC) quality roadmap points to credentialing, privileging, and peer review as pervasive trouble spots for ambulatory care facilities. With these shortcomings in accreditors’ crosshairs, take extra pains to avoid the following vetting missteps:

Editor's note: The following is a CRC members only article that Credentialing Resource Center has made available to the public.

In healthcare, change is constant, and credentialing and privileging are no exception. Rapidly expanding technology and increased variation in how practitioners are providing care (e.g., telemedicine, locum tenens, outpatient vs. inpatient) means that MSPs need to be proactive and monitor how these changes will alter the clinical privileges granted to their practitioners.

Peer review remains a vital part of both credentialing and privileging, and it is indicative of the desire to pursue physician excellence. Beyond the need to meet regulatory requirements, when peer review is done from a performance improvement perspective, it provides the opportunity for the medical profession to get ahead of the curve with respect to data transparency and risk management. However, for peer review to be successful, hospital professionals must secure physician buy-in.

MSPs, we want to hear from you for our next Medical Staff Briefing article! As as the end of the year nears, we encourage you to reflect on this past year and look eagerly towards the coming one. If you're interested in sharing your 2018 achievements and 2019 aspirations with us and your fellow MSPs, please email kaccorto@hcpro.com for more information. Your contributions are greatly appreciated!