Recent CMS revisions to the State Operations Manual for Hospitals are zeroing in on the agency’s definition of a “hospital.” According to one expert, this new survey guidance may be an attempt to define the parameters of a microhospital.

Ambulatory surgery centers (ASC) are very reliant on the ratings of their patients. Below are a few tips to ensure customer satisfaction courtesy of Nicholas Frisch, MD, MBA, an orthopedic surgeon with Ascension Crittenton Hospital in Rochester, Michigan, and Bald Mountain Surgery Center in Lake Orion, Michigan.

Navigating appointment processes, with their patchwork of expiration dates and verification expectations, can be difficult for ambulatory facilities, which often lack the dedicated credentialing presence and big-ticket resources of their acute care counterparts. To stay ahead of critical practitioner vetting deadlines, such as privilege expiration dates, consider creating a checklist that accounts for major federal regulations, state laws, and organization-specific circumstances.

The movement of care from the inpatient setting and the rise of clinically integrated networks (CIN) have resulted in an increasing need to push the evaluation of physician quality into these new territories. The challenge is to understand how to systematically measure and evaluate physician competency when care is provided outside the hospital or when physicians are accountable to an organization apart from the medical staff.

Published 2/5/18

It is a truth universally acknowledged that the medical credentialing process is incredibly long and bureaucratic, with massive amounts of repetitive paperwork going to several different agencies with different methodologies, each laboring under the impression that their means of operation is best. The job carries with it a heavy burden of responsibility—thoroughness and credibility are vital when the margin of error is so small. But being overly cautious is not the same as taking the appropriate precautions. Complexity and exhaustivity are not always positives.

Published 2/7/18

One of the biggest challenges facing hospital medical staffs today is obtaining sufficient information to accurately document practitioner competency. It is easy to confirm that a practitioner held a medical staff appointment at a healthcare facility and whether he or she was subject to any disciplinary action, but it can be much harder to obtain relevant practitioner-specific, aggregated data and objective opinions from other facilities.

Published 2/7/18

Facilities seeking competency data may need to amend their policies or medical staff bylaws. These samples can be customized for most facilities, but consult with counsel first.

Missed our coverage of the 2018 CRC Symposium in Las Vegas? Review some conference highlights.

The Credentialing Resource Center Symposium would like to thank the exhibitors and sponsors that made this year's symposium possible:

• ABMS Solutions
• American Board of Physician Specialties
• ConnectMe Solutions
• CredentialMyDoc
• Elsevier
• Expo Enterprises
• PT Research Inc.
• Streamline Verify
• symplr
• The Greeley Company
• Verity