According to preliminary data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), nearly 9,300 healthcare workers in the United States have contracted COVID-19, and approximately 55% believe they were exposed at work.

As a practical matter, it may seem strange, but your distant site does not need to have credentialing by proxy in its bylaws unless it is also going to be an originating site, explains Catherine M. Ballard, partner at Bricker & Eckler LLP, in Columbus, Ohio. 

In the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, the CRC team has seen a rise in the need for credentialing and privileging resources, and we've particularly noticed the increased use of telemedicine services, both to screen patients for COVID-19 but also to allow patients to schedule appointments with practitioners without leaving their homes. The CRC team realizes that these are trying times, and we want to know how we can best support you through them. Share your top telemedicine and COVID-19 concerns with Associate Editor Karla Accorto at kaccorto@hcpro.com so we can work to provide the content you need. 

As the novel coronavirus remains a threat across the globe, healthcare organizations should brush up on procedures for handling and sharing protected health information (PHI) during the outbreak of an infectious disease.

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, telemedicine is playing a crucial role in both maintaining the provision of non-COVID-19 care as well as providing a safe means through which practitioners can screen people for COVID-19. With the demand so great and growing daily, now is the perfect time to brush up on the fundamentals of credentialing and privileging telemedicine practitioners. This webinar provides, compliance-minded guidance on performing effective credentialing, privileging, and peer review for remote practitioners. We encourage you to take this advice and apply it as you can during the COVID-19 pandemic.