Keeping up with credentialing is an ongoing challenge for ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). It’s a juggling act to ensure you are tracking all medical providers’ credentials, renewing them before their expiration dates, and keeping updated documents on file. Combine that onerous task with staying current on all new industry, municipal, state, and federal credentialing guidelines, and you have many opportunities for details to slip through the cracks.
Learn how to avoid these four common credentialing issues and minimize your ASC’s exposure to risk.
Poor Time Management
Ideally, credentialing would follow a predictable, swift timeline every time. But in reality, processing a credential can take much longer than expected. And if the two months you allotted for credentialing a new provider drags into four or five months because of a missing requirement, your ASC suffers the consequences.
Leave as much time as possible for credentialing. If you finish ahead of schedule, you can celebrate an unexpected victory. Start the process as soon as you receive a provider’s file, looking at each aspect of their training, education, employment history, and licensure. Address any potential problems early on to avoid future delays.
Inconsistent Workflow
Invest time and resources into creating a uniform credentialing workflow. Figure out a step-by-step system to collect and submit documentation every time for credentialing and recredentialing. A consistent workflow minimizes errors and oversights, making it easier to train new employees and share the workload among team members.
Outdated Contact Information
Preparing for recredentialing is time-consuming, but you can streamline the process simply by keeping provider contact information updated throughout the year. Verify that you have the right info on file in advance, so you don’t have to scramble to get in touch when you are double-checking key dates, reaching out to peer references, or completing multiple rounds of document submissions.
State Compliance Differences
Individual states have different credentialing requirements, and it’s not a given that they will transfer from one state to another. Understand what the prerequisites for your state are. And if you are onboarding a provider who has practiced in another state, do thorough research into reciprocity agreements and if they are applicable in your situation.
Get expert assistance managing credentialing for your ASC – learn how MedHQ can help.
