Credentialing Resource Center Connection

In this week’s column, Anne Buss, CPMSM, CPCS, shares her frustration when she sees others violating HIPAA.

If you’ve helped arrange treatment for a practitioner with substance abuse problems, chances are you’re familiar with state physician health programs (PHP).

Recent studies of 16 state PHPs indicate an outstanding success rate with physicians monitored by state PHPs over an average 7.2 years Of 904 physicians, 78% completed this monitoring without relapse. Of those who did relapse, additional treatment resulted in over 90% doing well at the end of the study period.

As emergency practitioners from around the world rush to Haiti to treat earthquake victims, MSPs may wonder if any credentialing and privileging exists for these practitioners. Disaster privileging policies are designed by medical staffs to handle similar situations in American hospitals, yet the scale of destruction in Haiti is so large that healthcare is being delivered in a less organized way.