In many organizations, the board’s decision to approve or deny privileges marks the end of the new provider credentialing process for the MSP. However, this endpoint is changing as many hospitals integrate their medical staff services and provider enrollment functions into one department, says Amy Niehaus, CPMSM, CPCS, MBA, president of AMN Consulting. With integrated departments, onboarding of employed practitioners includes credentialing and privileging, but now ends after successfully enrolling practitioners with commercial insurers, Medicare, and Medicaid, Niehaus says.

Developed and implemented by Boston Medical Center, a new EHR-based tool screens patients for unmet social needs, also referred to as social detriments of health. The screener, called Thrive, asks patients questions regarding the following social detriments of health factors: homelessness and housing insecurity, food insecurity, lack of transportation to medical appointments, inability to afford medications, caregiving, utilities, educational aspirations, and unemployment.

A clearly defined and reflective scope of work is just as important for MSPs as for the practitioners they credential. This comprehensive job description, which comes courtesy of University Hospitals in Cleveland, features a summary of essential duties; experience, knowledge, and special skill requirements; an organizational chart; and role-specific competencies. 

Amy Niehaus, CPMSM, CPCS, MBA answers the question "How can I get my providers provisionally credentialed by payers?"

Find out what’s happening in the world of federal healthcare regulations by reviewing some recent headlines from across the country.

Advances in healthcare delivery continue at an exponential speed. Technologies, procedures, and treatments that were not even dreamed of several years ago are now realities. It is certain that, as a medical staff leader, you will be faced with the inevitable request from one of your medical staff members to bring the latest and greatest advancement to your organization. Medical staff leaders must take a series of steps before approving privileging requests for new technology. One of the first steps is to develop criteria for physician performance of the new privilege. Equally important is an analysis of the institution’s mission regarding this service, its ability to provide the technology, and whether there is trained staff to support this function.

Advances in healthcare delivery continue at an exponential speed. Technologies, procedures, and treatments that were not even dreamed of several years ago are now realities. It is certain that, as a medical staff leader, you will be faced with the inevitable request from one of your medical staff members to bring the latest and greatest advancement to your organization. Medical staff leaders must take a series of steps before approving privileging requests for new technology. One of the first steps is to develop criteria for physician performance of the new privilege. Equally important is an analysis of the institution’s mission regarding this service, its ability to provide the technology, and whether there is trained staff to support this function.

Every medical practice of any size must establish and utilize surrogates for provider enrollment, but it’s surprisingly complicated—if done wrong, it can cost the practice man-hours and even billings. By mastering the process, you can save yourself and your practice considerable time and administrative resources. Join expert speaker Gretchin S. Heckenlively, CPA, FHFMA, for our 90-minute webcast

In observance of Memorial Day, we will not publish CRC Daily on Monday, May 27. We'll resume our normal publication schedule on Tuesday, May 28.