Credentialing After Residency

[JoeyBloggs]

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Hi all,
My first post and I have already searched for this particular query but found nothing specifically relevant.

Essentially, this is my question: After we complete a residency program and get licensed in a state, each time we enter BC/BE jobs do the specific hospitals/clinics/insurance companies do credentialing each time we take up a new job? Say for example someone is working as a Hospitalist and moves around different jobs every several years or as a locum, will he/she have to be credentialed each and everytime taking up a new job?

I am specifically talking about credentialing of our mediical degree from overseas (I am an FMG). Because if it is the case that each time we take up a new job/hospital/insurance provider and they will each time do credentialing all over again, then this is TERRIBLE. Because, when I got my primary source verification done by ECFMG for my medical degree at STEP 1, the medical school took ages! I'm not talking weeks here, I'm talking well over 8 months! I shouldn't have been surprised though, the medical school I went to has an administration that would make a slug look like a 100m sprint champ. When I was there, to get anything done, you can forget about email or telephone, if you want it done, do it face to face. I won't name the medical school here because I don't wanna offend anyone.

So basically, I'm thinking that in the future, if everyone is going to be contacting my medical school all the time for credentialing, I am very soon going to establish contact with a regular and reliable person in the medical school administration and retain that person for personal services so that each time I apply for a job, I will immediately contact that person by telephone and tell them to look out for a credentialing check coming real soon. Because if I don't do this, I can see myself being in a position of waiting near enough a year from being accepted to a position, to actually starting!

So can anyone shed some light on this? What exactly is the case? I guess if there are any attendings on here they would know the score...............Thanks in advance for any help, appreciate your time.

 

[gutonc]

Hi all,
My first post and I have already searched for this particular query but found nothing specifically relevant.

Essentially, this is my question: After we complete a residency program and get licensed in a state, each time we enter BC/BE jobs do the specific hospitals/clinics/insurance companies do credentialing each time we take up a new job? Say for example someone is working as a Hospitalist and moves around different jobs every several years or as a locum, will he/she have to be credentialed each and everytime taking up a new job?

I am specifically talking about credentialing of our mediical degree from overseas (I am an FMG). Because if it is the case that each time we take up a new job/hospital/insurance provider and they will each time do credentialing all over again, then this is TERRIBLE. Because, when I got my primary source verification done by ECFMG for my medical degree at STEP 1, the medical school took ages! I'm not talking weeks here, I'm talking well over 8 months! I shouldn't have been surprised though, the medical school I went to has an administration that would make a slug look like a 100m sprint champ. When I was there, to get anything done, you can forget about email or telephone, if you want it done, do it face to face. I won't name the medical school here because I don't wanna offend anyone.

So basically, I'm thinking that in the future, if everyone is going to be contacting my medical school all the time for credentialing, I am very soon going to establish contact with a regular and reliable person in the medical school administration and retain that person for personal services so that each time I apply for a job, I will immediately contact that person by telephone and tell them to look out for a credentialing check coming real soon. Because if I don't do this, I can see myself being in a position of waiting near enough a year from being accepted to a position, to actually starting!

So can anyone shed some light on this? What exactly is the case? I guess if there are any attendings on here they would know the score...............Thanks in advance for any help, appreciate your time.

The short answer is "yes." Every time you start a new job, you'll need to get re-credentialed. If you are doing locums with a locums company however, your credentialing will be done by the locums staffing organization and you'll only have to do it once (although you will need to have a license in any state you plan to practice in). If you're freelancing, you're on your own.

Credentialing can take varying amounts of time depending on the hospital/organization doing it. If you're lucky, your residency program will retain all the information that most places will want and all you'll need from your med school is verification of your degree. The one place (besides my training institution) where I've had to get credentialed however, all they wanted was a notarized copy of my diploma...everything else they got from my residency program.

 

[Arcan57]

The pain involved in credentialing is on-going, and given the general trend will increase with time. Although it gets a bad rap (mostly deserved), using FCVS may make sense in your situation. You can get them to send your info to individual hospitals as well as for state licensing. But as mentioned by gutonc, you're going to need to credential at every institution. And in many cases, you will need to recredential after x number of years.

As a helpful hint, keep track of every hospital you've worked at, every malpractice insurance policy you've had, and every state license you've held.

 

[gutonc]

The pain involved in credentialing is on-going, and given the general trend will increase with time. Although it gets a bad rap (mostly deserved), using FCVS may make sense in your situation. You can try to get them to send your info to individual hospitals as well as for state licensing. But as mentioned by gutonc, you're going to need to credential at every institution. And in many cases, you will need to recredential after x number of years.

Fixed it for you.

As a helpful hint, keep track of every hospital you've worked at, every malpractice insurance policy you've had, and every state license you've held.

Also keep multiple copies (preferably notarized) of licenses, diplomas, ECFMG certificate and internship, residency and fellowship completion certificates. Like 20 or 30 copies of each. Seriously.

 

[Smurfette]

Gutonc is right.

I have a file with several copies of every document I've had to present for credentialling---diplomas, certificates, certification cards (ACLS, ATLS, etc.) and I even keep copies of CME credit stuff since it just simplifies things to keep it all in one place. You also need to keep a copy of all malpractice coverage info (my residency gave us a sheet of paper stating we were insured for anything that occurred during training and contact info for future credentialling and malpractice carriers to verify this directly with them) as you will need this even years later.

Finding the BEST person at your med school/GME/etc. office to contact to help quickly get your info to where it needs to go is key. Seriously.

While locums agencies and presumably FCVS gather these documents for you, most hospitals will still check at least some of the info provided for extra verification.

Every medical license (temporary or permanent) you have had needs to be provided for credentialling, and every state medical board where you've had a license will have to provide documentation stating you're in good standing, etc.

The credentialling process ALWAYS takes a while due to the fact that info needs to be verified and will depend on people other than yourself to prove your background. And some hospitals can take months to credential someone; kind of like state medical boards, they move at their own pace, which you may not be able to speed up despite your best intentions. Certainly the less "history" you have, the simpler the credentialling process. The more state licenses you have, the more training programs you've had, the more previous jobs and staff privileges you've had serve to add steps that the new employer has to complete before completing the process.

 

[JoeyBloggs]

Thanks a bunch guys. Some real boss feedback here!