Introduction
HortySpringer Pathways Webinar Session 1: The Credentialing Continuum: From Initial Contact to Final Action
Credentialing has changed a lot over the years. What started as a mere assessment of the most basic qualifications (e.g., “licensure, clinical competence, excellent reputation and the personal recommendation of an existing member of the active medical staff”) has morphed into an extensive process that shepherds candidates through several layers of review where they are measured by colleagues against a multitude of factors.
In the first Pathways installment of 2025, we will cover credentialing fundamentals. We will start with the credentialing continuum, from the first contact with a potential new medical staff member or recruit, through final hiring or action on appointment/privileges, and through the process of getting them credentialed by payors (if applicable). Then we will dive deeper into some of the details: eligibility criteria, administrative determinations of eligibility, waivers, exceptions to eligibility criteria, what to do about misrepresentations, substantive review of additional qualifications, special considerations at reappointment, and more.
While we discuss the credentialing process, we will highlight recently updated recommendations, and tackle some of the tougher issues health system, hospital, and physician leaders face in this area, including:
- How to cautiously and meaningfully grant appointment and privileges to an applicant who comes with a concerning background; and
- How to evaluate health status as part of credentialing – Can physician leaders fulfill their obligation to protect patients without alienating practitioners and discouraging them from seeking the mental health, addiction, and other health care services they need?
Topics to be Covered:
- The Credentialing Continuum: from initial contact through final action
- Requests for applications, pre-application processes, and related matters
- Threshold eligibility criteria for appointment, reappointment, and clinical privileges
- Threshold eligibility criteria for medical staff membership categories
- Eligibility determinations
- The process for considering/granting exceptions and waivers
- Processing applications pending resolution of ineligibility
- When to consider an application complete – and what to do about applicants that fail (or refuse) to compete them
- Evaluating health status during the credentialing process, with a nod to confidentiality, collegiality, and the need to avoid practitioners from seeking treatment
- Requesting a practitioner’s cooperation with a fitness for practice assessment (and Bylaws/policy language that gives you the tools you need to obtain compliance with evaluation/assessment requests)
- Best practices when considering appointment and privileges for an applicant who comes with a concerning background, but otherwise seems qualified
- Best practices when considering reappointment for a practitioner who has experienced clinical, behavioral, or health status concerns during the previous appointment term
About HortySpringer Pathways
What is Pathways? It’s a training program for hospital and physician leaders who are looking to develop and enhance the skills they need to manage and oversee the hospital’s Medical Staff. Key features:
FOCUSED
Each Pathways Series is focused on a topic – or “theme” – that health system, hospital, and physician leaders have told us is essential and timely. Avoiding the sound bites and consultant-talk that permeate so many leadership training courses that are on the market, Pathways favors a deeper discussion of the topics at hand and take-home tips that can be implemented right away.
INCLUSIVE
Medical Staff leadership does not occur in a vacuum. While the “self-governance” of the Medical Staff is largely the purview of the organization’s practicing physicians, a multitude of individuals and bodies support and oversee Medical Staff activities: Board members, advanced practice clinicians, health system and hospital administrators, quality professionals, medical staff services professionals, HR professionals, executive recruiters, and more! Pathways web-based format allows organizations to finally make Medical Staff leadership training available to all of these individuals, fostering shared understanding and the implementation of aligned and unified policies, procedures, and leadership strategies across the organization.
ACCESSIBLE
Each Pathways webinar has been designed to require a minimal-to-moderate time commitment and to allow training to be completed from the comfort of your own home or workplace. With four 2-hour web-based training sessions spread over the course of several months, participation in the Pathways leadership program means not having to forego leadership development when time for training is limited or travel is difficult or impossible.
Who Should Attend?
The 2025 Pathways program can benefit all of the following:
- Medical Staff officers
- Credentials Committee members
- Medical Executive Committee members
- Medical Staff Services Professionals (MSSPs) and other hospital or CVO personnel who support the credentialing and privileging processes
- Chief Medical Officers
- Representatives of the HR department
- Group practice leadership
- In-house counsel
- Governing Board members
- Medical Staff members looking to get more involved in Medical Staff leadership
HortySpringer Webinar Disclaimer
The information presented during a webinar and any supplementary materials provided to registrants are intended for educational and informational purposes only. Nothing contained therein is to be considered as the rendering of legal advice for specific cases or circumstances.
No one should act or refrain from acting on the basis of any information presented during a webinar without seeking the appropriate legal or other professional advice on the particular facts and circumstances at issue from a lawyer practicing as permitted by applicable laws, regulations or rules of professional conduct. No attorney-client relationship is formed by registration for a webinar or the use of the supplementary materials.
Faculty
Rachel E. Remaley Registration
Pricing:
Single hospital webinar session purchase: $595
Single hospital webinar series purchase: $1,850 (Discounted by $530 if you sign up for all 4.)
Participants Will Receive:
- 2 hours CME/NAMSS credits
- All supplementary materials
- 60-day on-demand access
The complete four-part series can be purchased for $1,850 and includes 8 hours CME/NAMSS credits, all supplementary materials, and 60-day on-demand access. Please click here to download the order form for the series.
