The Joint Commission issued its 2017 Top Non-compliant Ambulatory Care Standards for Health Centers report, outlining the most difficult standards for healthcare providers.
Here are three things to know about the most challenging standard for human resources, using primary sources to verify credentials before granting privileges:
1. Verification of a licensed independent practitioner's relevant training must be obtained from the primary source of the specific credential. Primary sources include the specialty certifying boards approved by the American Dental Association for board certification, letters from professional schools and letters from postgraduate education or postdoctoral programs for training. Designated equivalent sources include, but are not limited to:
- The American Medical Association Physician Masterfile for verification of a physician’s S. and Puerto Rico medical school graduation and residency completion
- The American Board of Medical Specialties for verification of a physician's board certification
- The Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates for verification of a physician's graduation from a foreign medical school
- The American Osteopathic Association Physician Database for predoctoral education accredited by the AOA Bureau of Professional Education, postdoctoral education approved by the AOA Council on Postdoctoral Training and Osteopathic Specialty Board Certification
- The Federation of State Medical Boards for all actions against a physician's medical license
- The American Academy of Physician Assistants Profile for physician assistant education, provided through the AMA Physician Profile Service
2. An external organization, such as a credentials verification organization or a Joint Commission-accredited healthcare organizing functioning as a CVO can be used to collect credentialing information if they meet CVO guidelines.
3. Reliable secondary sources can verify credentials when it is not possible to obtain credentials information from the primary source. A reliable secondary source could be another healthcare organization with documented primary source verification of the applicant's credentials.
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