Working with Weatherby

A Better Privileging, Licensing and Credentialing Experience

mss Team (2)_600Earlier this month, Weatherby Healthcare’s Medical Staff Services (MSS) completed its Connecting the Dots campaign, a six-week program established to further collaboration between the Licensing, Internal Credentialing, External Credentialing and Quality Assurance teams.

Supervised by a committee of leaders and MSS team members, the initiative kicked off with an open exchange of ideas; five areas of opportunity—references, contact information, DEAs, change in start date/deadlines and variance—were identified. Then, in the weeks leading up to the program’s launch, best practices were developed and assessed by the committee and all of leadership.

“Connecting the Dots will minimize duplication through increased communication and coordination between the teams,” says Director Sandy Vega. “Members of the four MSS divisions have related tasks and often require information from the same sources. Through the enhanced measures, files can be completed more proficiently and with the big picture in mind.” Measures proposed to support the program include side-by-side meetings and a “dot system,” introduced to serve as a reminder when another team member is working on the same file.

Connecting the Dots will also streamline processes for locum tenens professionals and clients.

“By implementing more efficient procedures, the teams will communicate with each other about all pieces of the puzzle, from needed references to required paperwork,” says Vega. “Sharing information means we will be able to reduce the number of times a provider is contacted for documentation. Moreover, the new program will help in limiting the number of requests for items already submitted to one of the teams.”

Dedicated to continuous improvement and putting people first, the MSS teams are excited about giving locum tenens professionals a better privileging, licensing and credentialing experience. Ultimately, Connecting the Dots will help in getting providers to their assignment facilities—and patients who need their services—more expeditiously. To ensure the initiative’s success, the committee will meet once a quarter to evaluate the process.

About the author

Bobbi Harrison

Bobbi Harrison is the communications manager at Weatherby Healthcare. She is the former editor of LocumLife and Healthcare Traveler magazines, and also served as the managing editor of Healthcare Staffing and Management Solutions. A recipient of the American Society of Business Publication Editors’ prestigious gold award, she has more than a decade of publishing experience in the staffing industry.

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