Performing credentialing process audits is similar to conducting patient record audits in that it is usually more productive to audit specific aspects of the process to answer specific questions. This is as opposed to attempting to audit an entire credentials file to address every possible requirement.

Eighty-six percent of providers reported having positive experiences using telehealth, according to a survey conducted by healthcare software company CoverMyMeds.

We are currently seeking industry experts to speak at our upcoming conference, the National Provider Enrollment Forum, featuring a new credentialing and privileging track! The Forum will take place on September 21 and 22 at the Sheraton Nashville Grand Downtown in Nashville, TN. To apply, click here and fill out the application by Monday, February 22, 2021.

Presentation topics could include:

• Enrollment with Medicare, Medicaid, or private payers
• Revalidations and maintaining enrollment
• Strategies for remote work
• Considerations for telemedicine practitioners
• Temporary, emergency, and disaster privileges
• Peer review, including ongoing professional practice evaluation and focused professional practice evaluation
• Professional development for enrollment and credentialing professionals

Processing a practitioner’s reapplication for membership and privileges takes input, collaboration, and decision-making from several entities. Throughout the process, your organization must ensure that it addresses the many details of the process and that each stakeholder bears the appropriate responsibility for a successful reappointment. Each party plays a key role.

Expect emergency preparedness and infection control to remain front and center during accreditation and compliance surveys for the immediate future as 2021 starts much the way most of 2020 played out–with all hospital operations centered around a pandemic that ebbs and surges and a political environment that is seeping into all aspects of planning.

Every employer benefits from promoting and facilitating a healthy workplace. Yet in some industries, the need to maintain healthy workers goes beyond simply preserving productivity and morale.In such cases, employers may have legitimate business interests for mandating that certain at-risk staff be vaccinated against common communicable diseases such as COVID-19, influenza, measles, and hepatitis. This sample vaccinations policy can be used in an employee handbook or as a standalone policy addressing health and safety issues in the workplace.