Synergy - January/February 2015 - 14

industry feature

staff process or equivalent, this is not a
requirement for others falling within the
Other Practitioner category. Therefore, the
medical staff may face the cost of additional
support staff to provide the manpower
to handle the paperwork associated with
credentialing the Other Practitioners who
are not already credentialed through the
medical staff process or equivalent. Further,

increased administrative burdens may
arise as well as the potential for increased
attorneys' fees and costs if the medical staff
decides to extend peer review to Other
Practitioners.
Another broader potential implication
of appointing Other Practitioners to the
medical staff is the burden of responding to

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14

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SYNERGY JANUARY/FEBR UARY 2015

inquiries regarding whether adverse action
was ever taken against an Other Practitioner.
Appointing Other Practitioners to the
medical staff could complicate medical
staff's duties and obligations to report and
respond to credentialing inquiries.

Middle Ground Alternative:
Allied Health Professional
Practitioners with Privileges
Importantly, the Revised CoP does not
mandate creating new classes of medical
staff membership nor does the Revision
require that, if some status within the
medical staff structure is provided, it be as
a medical staff member. As an alternative
to providing for full membership to
Other Physicians and Other Practitioners,
medical staffs that wish to credential
and extend privileges to perform certain
services to Other Physicians and/or Other
Practitioners without encountering some
of the risks discussed above may still do
so by credentialing them as Allied Health
Professionals (AHPs), consistent with state
law and the requirements of the hospital's
accrediting body. This is, of course, what
most medical staffs currently do with such
practitioners. The CoP does not mandate
any change in this approach.
Accordingly, the traditional "middle
ground" between granting full medical staff
membership versus having all categories of
Other Physicians and Other Practitioners
governed through the hospital human
resources department remains utilization
of the AHP categories when provision for
these practitioners is deemed appropriate
within the medical staff structure. Practically
speaking, a large number of medical staffs
currently grant AHPs privileges to perform
certain specific services, and this is certainly
still an option that is not foreclosed under
the Revised CoPs.

Conclusion
As set forth above, new risks come with the
potential for increased efficiency associated
with appointing Other Practitioners to the
medical staff. Therefore, it is important
for medical staffs to have clearly defined
policies for credentialing and disciplining
their members, whether they be MDs/DOs,
Other Physicians, or Other Practitioners. ■
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Synergy - January/February 2015

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