Credential service for application purposes?

[BlondeCookie]

It can be a real pain to continually ask the same people to write & send letters, as well as always having to mail transcripts, and other things to programs.

Is there some certified (by like FSMB) online credentials service that applicants can store all there relevant application info? Things like transcripts, letters of recommendation, work references, etc? Thanks.

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[Winged Scapula]

Nope.

Unless you are a foreign grad and use ECFMG, the NRMP requires that all your letters, etc. come from primary sources.

Once you graduate, you can consider using FCVS for such things, but their "service" leaves much to be desired.

 

[Blade28]

FCVS (for whom I coughed up hundreds of dollars) delayed getting my GA license by around 8-10 weeks. 🙁

 

[Winged Scapula]

FCVS (for whom I coughed up hundreds of dollars) delayed getting my GA license by around 8-10 weeks. 🙁

I have typed many hundreds of words here about my experiences with them. They certainly delayed my Az license.

NOW, I am waiting for them to redo my physician profile because they have me listed as doing a Vascular Surgery fellowship.

This despite multiple phone calls and emails trying to correct them. It took a certified letter and the another phone call to start the process of getting it corrected. They couldn't find the certified letter at first...I had the signature card in front of me and could tell them the date, time and who signed for it. It took them 2 days to find it and I didn't call until it had been 30 days since it was delivered...enough time for it to make it to my file.

Guess what? Because the form they sent my program director had "Department of Vascular Surgery" at the top, even though he completed it, giving his address, the department in which I did my fellowship (Surg Onc), etc. they cannot simply change it in their system. According to FCVS, they have to resubmit a request for verification of my fellowship with the correct form.

They've got the institutional BS and incompetence down pat. Its a good thing they are always nice when I call.🙁

 

[Blade28]

That's brutal! I signed up for them (and knowingly accepted a delay before moonlighting) because I thought the cost would be justified. I thought that they would help expedite hospital privileges later on. 🙁

 

[Winged Scapula]

That's brutal! I signed up for them (and knowingly accepted a delay before moonlighting) because I thought the cost would be justified. I thought that they would help expedite hospital privileges later on. 🙁

Not all states use them nor do all hospitals.

AZ is one of the states that has their own centralized credentialing service and they would not accept the profile from FCVS. I could use FCVS for the medical license but when it came to hospital credentials, I had to start all over with GACCP (Greater Arizona Central Credentialing Program). Fortunately, unlike FCVS, at least they don't wait a whole month before rerequesting materials if they don't get them. Still, I have to keep on top of things.

You may find it different wherever you end up practicing. I'm sure having all these credentialing departments at all these hospitals in all these states keeps a lot of people employed.

 

[Faebinder]

The problem is that i see no alternative...

What if you want to move to say Florida after 10 years of practice in arizona.... you need to send out all sorta disasters to verify documents.

Gosh I wish the medical boards would go federal and get it over with.

A single federal license would be nice.

 

[Winged Scapula]

The problem is that i see no alternative...

What if you want to move to say Florida after 10 years of practice in arizona.... you need to send out all sorta disasters to verify documents.

Gosh I wish the medical boards would go federal and get it over with.

A single federal license would be nice.

Its a reason I've heard people decide NOT to move...they don't want to go through the hassle.

Which warrants a word to the wise: every time you change jobs, work at different hospitals, etc. and you then go to apply for a new license, new privileges, etc. whatever credentialing board/service you use has to get information from ALL of those places.

A federal license with a federal credentialing verification service would be nice. There is NO reason I can see for hospitals and states to do the same thing over, and over and over again...except to keep a bunch of people employed. NONE of the applications has asked for anything different than any of the others.

 

[Blade28]

Some older attendings have recommended that whenever you move to a new state, keep your previous state's medical license active (i.e. keep paying to renew it). Much easier than letting it expire and then having to reapply if you ever move back there...plus you should be able to afford it as an attending.

 

[NotAProgDirector]

A federal license with a federal credentialing verification service would be nice.

That assumes that they are competent. Would you really want FCVS completely in charge of your license?

Some older attendings have recommended that whenever you move to a new state, keep your previous state's medical license active (i.e. keep paying to renew it). Much easier than letting it expire and then having to reapply if you ever move back there...plus you should be able to afford it as an attending.

Some states now allow you to inactivate a license -- pay a very small fee each year to keep your file open but you do not have an active license, but can get one back quickly if needed.

 

[Blade28]

Some states now allow you to inactivate a license -- pay a very small fee each year to keep your file open but you do not have an active license, but can get one back quickly if needed.

That's a good idea. 👍

 

[ajlmd]

I have typed many hundreds of words here about my experiences with them. They certainly delayed my Az license.

NOW, I am waiting for them to redo my physician profile because they have me listed as doing a Vascular Surgery fellowship.

This despite multiple phone calls and emails trying to correct them. It took a certified letter and the another phone call to start the process of getting it corrected. They couldn't find the certified letter at first...I had the signature card in front of me and could tell them the date, time and who signed for it. It took them 2 days to find it and I didn't call until it had been 30 days since it was delivered...enough time for it to make it to my file.

Guess what? Because the form they sent my program director had "Department of Vascular Surgery" at the top, even though he completed it, giving his address, the department in which I did my fellowship (Surg Onc), etc. they cannot simply change it in their system. According to FCVS, they have to resubmit a request for verification of my fellowship with the correct form.

They've got the institutional BS and incompetence down pat. Its a good thing they are always nice when I call.🙁

Glad to know this. I did not use FCVS for my first license and was considering using it for my second one (though I ultimately didn't.) Being that I am on a time crunch and am going to a state that usually takes ~6 months, avoiding a several week delay may be crucial.

 

[Winged Scapula]

Glad to know this. I did not use FCVS for my first license and was considering using it for my second one (though I ultimately didn't.) Being that I am on a time crunch and am going to a state that usually takes ~6 months, avoiding a several week delay may be crucial.

Some states require the use of FCVS; others do not allow its use.

Its a good idea in theory, in practice it has failed to meet my expectations.

 

[Pir8DeacDoc]

Best website you can have to know who wants what.


http://www.fsmb.org/fcvs_physboards.html

 

[Faebinder]

Says on the website:

We will not begin verification of your credentials until we receive all required information and appropriate documentation

Perhaps the delays could have been avoided if you made sure that all the appropriate documentation was with FCVS prior to applying?

They are saying:

However, total processing time will vary depending on the completeness of the application submitted and the response time by primary sources.

Sounds like you would have had delay problems anyway if you did it yourself instead of FCVS? MMmm.... By no means I'm labeling them competent... I've been through enough "organizations" to realize the level of incompetence is always staggering (NRMP, ERAS, ECFMG, NBME, AAMC...etc etc etc). They all F-up. The problem is that until a federal license is instated (I know I know that wont happen), we are stuck back tracking if we need to move. In this day and age, if you want to have the best medical job (whether its pay or location) you need to be mobile after 5-10 years.

 

[Blade28]

Perhaps the delays could have been avoided if you made sure that all the appropriate documentation was with FCVS prior to applying?

Trust me, it still takes at least a month or two.

 

[Winged Scapula]

Says on the website:



Perhaps the delays could have been avoided if you made sure that all the appropriate documentation was with FCVS prior to applying?

And it was (assuming you were talking to me). FCVS has to request the information from the primary source themselves. I could NOT have provided them with "proof" of any of my education, etc. because they have their own form which they send and they will only send it to the primary source, not you.

When I submitted my application, I submitted it with ALL the documents they requested. So my verification began the day they received my packet with all the data. There was absolutely NO delay on part because I submitted everything they requested. The delays are unavoidable unless you are sitting at your Program Director's desk, opening his mail, completing the form, forcing him to sign it and then send it back. They request primary source verification from your medical school, your residency, your fellowship, etc. and it cannot come from the applicant.

While it is very true that verification time will depend on the response from the primary source, a major problem is:

1) they wait 30 days before sending a second request.
2) the reps do not follow up on things sent. For example, my fellowship coordinator received an email form from FCVS for the PD to complete. She didn't see the 2nd page and only FAXed back one page.

Instead of FCVS contacting her immediately to say, "hey we only got one page of the FAX", they waited a month and then sent another email to her. They didn't explain that they had only received one page, so it resulted in her being confused because she had "already sent it".

At any rate, there are many system problems and the applicant would be well advised to know their rep's name, their contact info and call once a week and be a real PITA. Its the only way to get it done.

Once they have all the primary source verification, it doesn't take long to get your letter/profile out (3-4 weeks), but the ensuing process can be unbearable. It is nothing you or the state you are applying to can't do. If you're in a hurry and applying to a state that doesn't require FCVS, you are not doing yourself a favor, IMHO.

YMMV.

 

[Blade28]

I've been through enough "organizations" to realize the level of incompetence is always staggering (NRMP, ERAS, ECFMG, NBME, AAMC...etc etc etc). They all F-up.

Forgot to mention earlier...the sloth of FCVS makes the above organizations look ridiculously efficient.

 

[Faebinder]

Forgot to mention earlier...the sloth of FCVS makes the above organizations look ridiculously efficient.

mmm..

My nicknames for them....

NBME = The Secret Illuminati

ERAS = The Medical IRS

JACHO = The Black Hand Of The Medical Mafia

ACGME = The Medical Inquisition

AMA = The Inverted Ivory Tower

ECFMG = Twenty First Centuary Medical Slavemasters

Hmm.. What shall I call FVCS? Igor, the not-so-helpful bookeeper?😎

 

[Blade28]

With those lofty nicknames, I'd give FCVS something really lazy-sounding and bureaucratic like, oh, I don't know, the House or Senate. 🙂

 

[Finally M3]

FCVS stinks; I've been waiting 10 weeks for them to finish their side of the app BEFORE they send it to the Ohio State Medical Board.

 

[Blade28]

That was my experience here in GA as well.