Credentialing Chatter

HI EVERYONE, it’s time for the staff meeting! Wait, don’t start panicking (or yawning). Staff meetings can be fun, enlightening, scary, boring, productive and unproductive but most of all they are necessary. How a staff meeting turns out in the end depends on what is put into it at the beginning. A little bit of planning goes a long way, so let’s get started!

First you need to decide how often to meet. Weekly meetings may be too much especially if they go long. Monthly meetings may not be enough. Get the staff’s opinion on the frequency of meetings. Whatever the decision, be consistent.

Type a template agenda with standard topics that can be left on or omitted for each meeting. This gives you a jumping off point and place holders for items easily forgotten. Some ideas are:

• Regulation/Accreditation/Legislation updates
• Policy changes (including department and organization policies)
• Training opportunities
• Work coverage for staff vacations or long term absences

Now set up a folder on a drive your whole department has access to and place the agendas, by date, in the folder so everyone can work on them. The team can add questions or issues directly to the agenda or request they be added by the person who is responsible for the agenda. Using this method, not only one person is responsible for the agenda topics and the meetings become relevant to everyone.

The last step is the meeting itself. Pose topics in questions which get group participation. Be open to comments and suggestions even though not all of them will be implemented. Staff meetings have a certain amount of announcement type agenda items but they should also be geared towards discussions when possible. If you can, bring bagels or donuts. I know I’m always happier when I’m eating!

Ask different staff members to conduct the meetings as well as present topics. The manager can be on the agenda as a presenter but not have to run every meeting and topic.

Besides regular meetings, an annual meeting is always a good idea. Here are some yearly topics to consider:

• Review of previous year’s accomplishments
• Discussion of goals for the next year
• Personal and Department goal writing and finalization
• Upcoming reorganizations or accreditation/regulation surveys (Major dates)
• Legislative updates
• Department measures/tracking
• Training (try to include training that will give employees CE credits)

Plan for at least 4 hours and include a fun “warm up” activity. Now I don’t mean jumping jacks. Not everyone is big on ice breakers but there is a lot you can do to get the brain waves clicking. Search for ideas on the internet, you’ll be surprised what’s available.

If time allows, let everyone wind down with an appreciation lunch. Don’t forget to have some follow up on the planning though and your regular staff meetings are just the place for continued discussions and progress checks.

Now go prepare and don’t forget to have fun. Work doesn’t always have to be a drag!

So, you’ve hired a new Medical Staff Office member and you need this person to jump in with both feet, but how do you train her to the ways of your organization and, in particular, to your office?  The answer, use your Medical Staff Bylaws and Rules & Regulations, office policies and procedures, accreditation standards, state laws, and anything else that may apply to your particular organization.  When an employee knows the reason specific tasks are being performed, especially mundane tasks, she is more likely to avoid placing some responsibilities on the back-burner because they “aren’t important.”

When you have hired your new staff member, give her a copy of the Medical Staff Bylaws and Rules and Regulations, practitioner application(s), and any other pertinent documents, then request that she review these documents and identify where the standards, laws, etc., are met in the documents.  This will accomplish at least two things:  1) the new staff member will learn, intimately, the Bylaws and Rules and Regulations so she can quote them “chapter and verse” or at least be able to locate the answer quickly when in a meeting, on a phone call, etc., and 2) these documents will undergo review from a fresh perspective.  Not only will the new staff member be able to identify areas where standards are not clearly met, but she will find typo’s that nobody has seen for the past 20 years!  Perhaps the biggest benefit of this process is that the new employee should attain a comfort level that often takes months, or even years, to achieve.

We realize your desire is to have your new employee “hit the ground running” because it is likely you have been trying to fill this position for some time and the work is piling up, but providing this opportunity should shorten the learning curve and will allow your employee to feel successful from the start.  If other priorities do not allow for the new employee to devote the first few days of her employment focusing on this task, set aside a couple of hours each day where she can go into another room to complete the review uninterrupted.  If reviewing for a couple of hours each day, she should be able to complete the process within a couple of weeks.

Please remember that when the new employee is conducting the review process, the manager should be open for questions.  Sometimes it may be difficult to find exactly where specific standards are met, so the manager should be certain to be available to explain where and how they are met, as well as accept recommendations for change.

For new employees who are responsible for meeting attendance, reading the minutes from the past two or three meetings should be required.  This will familiarize the employee with the Committee’s responsibilities, the issues that have been discussed recently and may be reviewed again during the upcoming meeting, as well as verbiage specific to the committee’s work.  This also provides the employee the opportunity to see how the minutes for the meeting have been written in the past.  Meeting with the Committee Chair to prepare the agenda will also be extremely helpful to the new employee and the Chair.

In addition to reviewing the Bylaws and Rules and Regulations, an effective method for training new employees on the credentialing process should include a review of credentialing policies and procedures as they often outline the entire credentialing process.  When the time comes for the new employee to process a credentials file, it helps to have a sample file.  The sample file can be one that you create specifically for training purposes, but there is really no need to go through the extra work of creating a file when you can pull the file of another practitioner in the same discipline.  These files will likely contain a majority of similar documentation that will be required in the new practitioner’s file.  Also, the use of a checklist will help to ensure that most of the appropriate documentation is in the file.  As we are all aware, it takes time to learn to identify those “red flags” that are sometimes hidden in responses, so having the manager or a trained staff member review the first several files will be invaluable to the new employee.  Also, the availability of the manager and/or other staff to answer questions will help.

Last but not least, encourage the employee’s continued learning.  One of the first steps may be to take a medical terminology course at the local community college.  Understanding what healthcare professionals are saying in their meetings goes a long way toward writing effective and meaningful committee minutes.  And, of course, as the employee continues to grow and be comfortable in her job, encourage certification as either a CPCS or CPMSM or both.

As we are all aware, the typical test for a new “clerical” employee is a typing test; however, this test does not tell the Medical Staff/Credentialing manager whether or not the prospective new employee can process a credentials file.  So, why not develop a test of the skills that will be needed to successfully perform the functions of a credentialing specialist?

Before scheduling a face-to-face interview, have candidates go to the HR Department, just as they would for a typing test, and take a credentialing assessment test.  The test will consist of reviewing a mock-up file that should contain all of the required credentialing elements (e.g., application, license, affiliation verifications).  The responsibility of the candidate will be to review the file and note any deficiencies that you have created in this file.  Examples of deficiencies include an expired license, a missing affiliation verification, or a negative verification that requires follow-up but none was done.  These are just a few examples of items that should “jump out” at an experienced credentialing specialist.  Even if you do not have any candidates with experience, and are willing to train, it would not be a bad idea to briefly explain the credentialing process and have the candidates conduct the file review.  A candidate who pays attention to detail should be able to identify expired items or note that something may be missing because there are no pages behind a tabbed area.

The process of pre-employment testing in this manner could significantly decrease the number of interviews you conduct and can give you an idea of the applicant’s attention to detail, which is so critical in the credentialing arena.

Every one of us has a need to be recognized for what we do.  When our work is noticed, we feel better about our jobs and happy employees make for a much more pleasant work environment for all.

Recognition can be big or small.  It doesn’t always have to be money and most of the time shouldn’t be.  Any gesture of “thank you” from the manager lets the employee know that you are paying attention and appreciate the work they do. 

Here are some things to consider while preparing your recognition plan.  If you haven’t noticed, people are different.  Some employees like public recognition and others are more private.  Consider the amount of fanfare you shed onto your unsuspecting staffer.  Our personal belief is that even employees who do not like public recognition need to be given it at times.  It is important for everybody to see the accomplishments of each team member but, at times, private recognition is appropriate.

You will need to consider what motivates your employees.  Some employees are motivated by a pat on the back during a staff meeting while others pull their motivation from being offered roles on committees or projects.  Take five minutes to write down what you think motivates your staff.  Also, it doesn’t hurt to hand out a small survey asking what personally motivates them as well as some personal preference questions so you can get to know your team (e.g. favorite color, hobbies, favorite munchies).  Knowing what they like helps to make your recognition more personal and meaningful.

Here are some ideas for individual recognition:

* Recognition certificate during a staff meeting

* Box of candy or candy bars (Consider a Score™ bar for a great presentation or a Snickers™ for being positive about a major change)

* A simple hand written Thank You note

* Leave work a couple of hours early, with pay (You may need to have this approved by Human Resources first)

* Lunch (Who doesn’t like free food!?!)

* A spot on a project team or the opportunity to present at a meeting

* A gift card (Starbucks™, Barnes & Noble™, etc.)

Appropriate timing and frequency need to be considered as well.  Recognizing an employee’s great performance six months after isn’t going to be as effective.  Create a spreadsheet with the names of your staff to keep track of when you recognized each staff member, the reason for the recognition and what was given.  Don’t forget, the recognition doesn’t just have to be individual; you can recognize your entire team for meeting that really tight deadline.

Team recognition ideas:

* Take them out to lunch or cater in

* Go bowling during the lunch hour (or 2)

* Throw an ice cream social or root beer float party

* Shirt with company logo

These are some ideas for you to consider.  The list can be long and varied. 

We would love to hear your success stories so please send us an e-mail to credchatter@lsmssc.com to let us know about your plan and how it worked out!  By the way, you’re doing a great job!

You’re walking in to work on January 2nd and a well meaning co-worker gives you a big smile and says “Happy New Year!”.  You, the manager of the Medical Staff Office, grunt back some inaudible reply and trudge off to your office to meet the new task at hand, yearly performance evaluations.

Just the mere thought of this task is enough to turn any good natured, easy going manager into mush!  So how do you get through it plus all the other mounds of work on your desk?  Simplicity!  None of us are perfect and as a manager it is difficult to call out someone’s faults even if they are basic.To make the task easier, choose the top three areas where each employee excels.  Next, select one (or two) areas where you would like each employee to improve.  By highlighting a small number of  concerns, you and your employee have a much better opportunity to achieve success.  If you have an employee that has many areas to work on, choose two or three major issues for the evaluation and work with your human resources department to manage the rest.When it’s time to present the evaluation, consider giving the document to your employee the day before you meet.  This gives the employee time to absorb the contents before the face-to-face.Now take a deep breath, you’ll get through this.  You always do!