Help, I am late submitting re-privileging documents

[lockian]

Via a comedy of incompetence and errors (I won't bore you with the details, but it's mostly my own but some institutional), this new-ish attending missed the deadline for submitting re-privileging paperwork at the hospital where I talk call. I got a letter through inter-office mail that if I don't submit it all yesterday my privileges will lapse in several months and I have to reapply from scratch.

I also read the paperwork and realized I somehow let my BLS certification lapse by several months, and it's not entirely clear whether I am even required to have it in the first place. I read the application and hospital credentialing guidelines and it says nothing about that.

If something happens to my privileges, I might need to report it to the state board, and this is just going to be one administrative/disciplinary nightmare for no reason/a stupid reason.

Believe it or not, this sort of thing usually is not like me. I am fastidious about board cert and all my licenses. I have nothing to say in my defense except that as a new attending I am overwhelmed.

What is the best course of action at this point? What might happen going forward?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[wolfvgang22]

Most places need your services bad enough to work with you on this. I would call them or swing by and talk to HR, and apologize to whoever you report to at the hospital and make arrangements to get your BLS and privileges done ASAP. If they *really* suspend you for months without giving you a chance I would be surprised. If they do that, they are planning on firing you anyway. I wouldn't be surprised if you can't practice there until you do get it all done.

 

[michaelrack]

There's a difference between letting privileges lapse and having privileges terminated for cause. You won't have to report to board for lapse

 

[comp1]

The problem here is that you won't be able to practice in the hospital, not that you have to report something to a state board. Concur with an extreme difference between lapsing and termination noted above. I'm sure the hospital is appropriately motivated. As someone who deals with credentialing and recredentialing often, competent boards will build significant wiggle room into schedules and make emails to providers seem much more ominous than they actually are to help motivate people who might put things off.

 

[lockian]

Most places need your services bad enough to work with you on this. I would call them or swing by and talk to HR, and apologize to whoever you report to at the hospital and make arrangements to get your BLS and privileges done ASAP. If they *really* suspend you for months without giving you a chance I would be surprised. If they do that, they are planning on firing you anyway. I wouldn't be surprised if you can't practice there until you do get it all done.

Yeah, getting this stuff done is not a problem. I got it all done yesterday given the appropriate motivation and my privileges would not have lapsed for 4 months had I done nothing. They also told me today that a small delay is ok, the deadline is not 100% hard and fast.

I’m kind of worried about the BLS stuff still. It’s the sort of thing that is likely standard but nowhere does it say I’m required to submit the card unless I work at this one specific affiliate… and I don’t work there.

I’m not sure if it’s best to come out and inform them about the past lapse in BLS, now corrected, or just ask it as a general question, like “what’s the requirement?”

 

[wolfvgang22]

Just find out what the requirement is and don't let it lapse if it is required.