You are currently browsing the monthly archive for June, 2008.
Locum Tenens is latin for “place-holder“. A person who temporarily fulfills the duties of another. For example, a locum doctor is a doctor who works in the place of the regular doctor when that doctor is absent. These professionals are still governed by their respective regulatory bodies, despite the transient nature of their positions..
Loma Linda University school of Medicine
Keeps older graduation records on 3*5 index cards. So if you are verifying an older Physican, Loma Lindas Registrar’s office will only be able to give you the graduation date.
I have always admired Healthcare providers. What they do is amazing. Their dedication to fixing the body and mind is beyond my capabilities. These are the men and women who took care of my mother when she was dying. When she was suffering, I just wanted someone to make it easier for her. I didn’t care who was board certified. I didn’t have it in my mind to think about anything else but her health.
Our Credentialing system is not set up like our legal system, where you are innocent until proven guilty. A Provider in Credentialing is guilty until they prove themselves innocent.
Physician & Allied Health Providers choose to live in glass houses. Every time they apply for new privileges; go work with a Locum Tenens agency, or even get a new state License. They choose to have their professional and sometimes very personal life reexamined and stones thrown at them.
We sometimes forget that they are people too. As a credentialer I am paid, to pick at the cracks of a Physicians’ life. Even if I can tell you the answers to the questions I have about your Application or CV. I still have to ask them. Its tedium and some would say stupid. I don’t like it either but until we can come up with something better, this is what we have to work with.
For the other side of the coin, I loved this Blog post from EMPhysician.
http://emphysician.blogspot.com/2007/12/hospital-credentialing-process-dog-and.html
Ronda
Time Gaps
My rule of thumb is “anytime that a person can spend in prison” is a time gap. 30 days is my general ‘must know’ rule; but I know that some states need to have an accounting of ALL time from College to present.
This gets tricky,
14 Days? Could be a vacation.
21 Days? Family Emergency.
30 days? I always go to ‘Were they in jail? Where have they been?’
30 days is how long they could have been suspended from the hospital. And if they were, why were they suspended. I hear my mothers voice in my head, when I had done something wrong. “WHAT DID YOU DO?” It always stopped me cold, even if I didn’t do anything wrong. Now it’s all I hear when I find any gaps for 30 days or more.
Ronda
