As we approach the holiday season, the CRC team is taking time to reflect on what we're grateful for and, more than ever, we're thankful for each other. Is there a member of your team that you're especially grateful for this year? We want to know! Email CRC editor Karla Accorto at kaccorto@hcpro.com with their name, organization, email address, and a few sentences about what makes them such a great MSP and team member. Your nominated MSP could be featured in an upcoming issue of our Credentialing Resource Center Digest!

Last week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced historic updates to the the Stark Law, also known as the Physician Self-Referral Law. CMS acknowledged that federal regulations related to physician self-referrals have become outdated as the United States’ healthcare system has transitioned from a fee-for-service to a fee-for-value model.

One of the most important roles of a hospital’s organized medical staff is to evaluate practitioners’ credentials and make recommendations to the board regarding membership on the medical staff and/or the assignment of clinical privileges. Historically, many medical staff bylaws included extensive sections laying out the procedures for medical staff credentialing. In recent years, as credentialing requirements have proliferated and the procedures have become more complex, it has become common for medical staffs to move this content from the bylaws into medical staff policies. Nevertheless, medical staff bylaws almost always retain some discussion of credentialing and peer review, even if it is to inform readers that the subjects are more fully elaborated in policies and procedures.