To all my fellow MSPs, let me say that we have a wonderful opportunity this week to let our patients, practitioners and the public know the tremendous job we do on their behalf. This week, National Medical Staff Services Awareness, is especially important because we are being recognized at a national level for the vital role be play in the delivery of quality health care. I urge you all to let folks know the vital role you play.

Often I am asked what I "do" and I respond "I work for a healthcare system" (substitute hospital, managed care plan, large group practice). Then I usually get asked "Are you are nurse"? Depending on my mood at the moment, I may respond, "No, I make sure that nurses and doctors are competent to met your health care needs". Or I might say, "I'm the one who investigates the practitioners who take care of your family members." Many response get the wide-eyed expression and comment "Oh, I didn't know!"

It is our job, especially this week, to promote our profession. Are you not sure how to do this? Here's what I've observed other do: A managed care plans had exciting fun and activities promoting daily quizzes similar to Jeopardy with prizes for the winners. Others organizations have requested funding from the medical staff dues to hold a special luncheon or purchase a token or appreciation (flowers, candy, etc.). My delight was achieved when I learned that the medical staff support dues supported educational opportunities (NAMSS conference) to recognize the role of the MSP at their facility.

I know that speaking out will gain us recognition. So even if you are shy, unsure, reluctant, please speak out NOW to those you come in contact with! This week only ....or perhaps at other opportunties.

I am so proud to be a colleague of those in this esteemed profession. Please join me in saying "Congratualtions" to jobs well done!

Carole La Pine, MSA, CPMSM, CPCS

All week long we’ve been speaking with MSPs about what National Medical Staff Services Awareness week means to them. Some of these responses appear below. Please add your thoughts in the comment boxes at the end of the post.

“The celebration and recognition of Medical Staff Services Professionals Week allows us to not only receive deserved recognition for what we contribute each day, but it also gives us an opportunity to reflect on how we can give the same deserved recognition back to the profession.

For most of us I think we can say that we did not set out to be a Medical Staff Services Professional but thanks to the forward thinking of our founding members we fell into a rewarding career in a profession that is recognized by the medical field and healthcare industry as an important key in the deliverance of good quality healthcare. In addition, we are privileged to work with the most intelligent people in our society and help to provide guidance to them in the administration of their leadership roles that provides for a great medical staff further translating to great patient care.

Our profession is changing rapidly and on the edge of looking different in years to come. I encourage you to take this week to reflect on what you can do through volunteerism to our chapters, state associations and national associations, to help our leaders on all levels of the organization assure that our profession keeps up with the changes that have started to take shape to further assure that the professionals that follow us will share in the same or even more rewarding career that we enjoy today.”

Bonnie Conley, CPCS, director of medical staff services at Trinity Medical Center in Carrollton, TX.

“National Medical Staff Services Awareness Week is our opportunity to be recognized, nationally, just as so many other healthcare professionals are. It is confirmation that ours is truly a healthcare profession that is important to the overall wellbeing of the patients we serve.”

Terry Wilson, BS, CPMSM, CPCS, director of medical staff services at Flagler Hospital in St. Augustine, FL.

“Unfortunately, our hospital does not recognize this week. With as much work that I do and the hours of dedication, it would be nice and welcomed to have some type of recognition. I am curious to all the other answers.”

Bonnie Edlebeck, medical staff coordinator at Dickinson County Healthcare System in Iron Mountain, MI.

-- Emily Berry, associate editor

In my role as an editor at HCPro, I spend a lot of time talking and listening to MSPs. It’s through these interactions that I often get a sense of the environment in which our readers work—and it’s not as uniform as you might think. I’m not talking about the size or location of the environment, although that does play a role. I’m talking about the respect that others in the organization give to an MSP.

This respect is reflected in the way the medical staff interacts with you, your job description, and your salary. If you read our 2008 CRC Salary Survey, you saw these discrepancies for yourself. Thirty-nine percent of credentialing coordinators reported making between $30,001-$40,000 per year, while ten percent reported making $50,001-$60,000 per year. And a few of you (one percent) reported making over $70,000 per year.

I’m sure all of you would like to be in that last category, just as you would like to be respected by others in your organization for the serious and demanding work you do. After all, if the job that you do is similar to the jobs your peers do nationwide, shouldn’t the respect you receive be similar, too?

Garnering the respect you deserve starts with respecting yourself and presenting a professional face to the world. It is also earned by educating others about your role and negotiating a fair job description.

I encourage you to take a moment to share the ways you’ve earned respect in your organization in the comment boxes below. By helping to elevate the status of one MSP, you help to elevate the profession as a whole, and isn’t that one of the goals of National Medical Staff Services Awareness Week?

Emily Berry, associate editor

It’s National Medical Staff Services Week!!! My wish for all MSPs this week is that each and every one of you receives deserved recognition for your work in your organization.

It is a fact that MSPs are a very valuable tool in their organization’s risk management tool kit. Analyzing credentials files and identifying “red flags,” MSPs are constantly on the look out for warning signals where a higher level of scrutiny for a particular credentials file would be warranted. MSPs also recognize that once all verifications are complete the real focus is to evaluate the appropriateness of a practitioner for appointment and to determine that practitioner’s competency for clinical privileges requested.

I recently wrote a white paper that addressed competencies for MSPs. Within that white paper, I likened MSPs to air traffic controllers and the important but behind the scenes work they do to protect passengers. Like the air traffic controller, MSPs must constantly be on the look out for potential problem practitioners, be able to analyze the situation, and react appropriately in order to protect the patient and the organization from potential harm or injury.

If you have uncovered a red flag and your diligent follow up then led to a decision for that particular practitioner to not be appointed or granted privileges in order to protect patients and staff, we would love for you to share that story with us.

Sally J Pelletier, CPCS, CPMSM
Senior Consultant - Credentialing and Privileging
Executive Director - Credentialing Resource Center Consulting
The Greeley Company, a division of HCPro Inc.