Today’s forwarding-thinking healthcare leaders continually search for ways to improve care quality and patient safety. And while there are countless organization-specific clinical workflow improvements to consider, there’s one universal strategy from which every healthcare organization can benefit: Elevate the medical staff services department (MSSD).
Leaders who recognize the MSSD and medical services professionals (MSPs) as core drivers of organizational performance and empower them with the necessary tools will set their organization up for success.
Medical staff services drives overall organizational performance
Though traditionally viewed as an administrative unit, the MSSD is perhaps an organization’s greatest untapped strategic asset. Why? The functions the department performs create a protective barrier against practitioners who do not meet the organization's quality standards. With the right technology, training, and workflows, MSPs are equipped to facilitate a strong credentialing process. They can then support the established processes and policies so the organization can appoint top clinical talent and qualified practitioners to the medical staff.
Your organization’s talent lays the foundation for outstanding patient care. And it’s this patient care that fosters an unparalleled reputation among clinicians and in the community at large. Without them, the organization may appoint physicians and advanced practice professionals (APPs) who hinder its ability to meet strategic goals—ultimately jeopardizing the organization’s future.
When MSPs are equipped to optimally perform their core duties, they will enable the organization to optimally perform its core duty of providing safe, high-quality care.
Setting up qualified clinicians who deliver outstanding care
When MSPs are empowered to pay meticulous attention to detail, their oversight ensures that only the highest quality clinicians may care for patients in your organization.
By applying their deep knowledge of medical staff bylaws, rules, and regulations. MSPs can detect the subtlest of red flags that could leave your organization vulnerable to costly lawsuits and reputational harm. Their efforts keep patients safe and support consistent application of quality standards when appointing clinicians.
Once the onboarding process is complete, MSPs should educate providers on how the organization will evaluate their performance. This includes setting expectations relative to medical records documentation and completion, peer review, the code of conduct, medical staff bylaws, key performance indicators, and more.
By setting clear expectations, MSPs help clinicians understand the ways in which the organization will hold them accountable so they can take proactive steps to improve performance. This reduces the need for resource-intensive corrective action.
Optimizing processes to increase patient access and organizational productivity
The goal is to onboard practitioners as quickly as possible so they can start seeing patients and generating revenue. An efficient credentialing and privileging primary source verification process of 21 days or less increases patient access. Greater access to care can, in turn, improve outcomes and even lower costs.
In contrast, an inefficient process causes significant delays in scheduling appointments and surgeries. These delays may lead to patient leakage and the loss of highly qualified specialists to competitors who expedite the process. Both consequences are costly to the organization and become stubborn barriers to growth.
As key owners for the organization’s credentialing database, the MSSD is the keeper of an important single source of truth. The data they maintain flows into other departments and uses. Having an efficient and strong MSSD mitigates data integrity issues in electronic health records, referral information, revenue cycle management, and more.
Keeping a pulse on regulatory changes and impacts
Skilled and supported MSPs also stay abreast of federal- and state-level changes that affect credentialing and privileging processes. They can then educate medical staff leaders and help them make informed decisions about organizational policy and procedures. For example, when The Joint Commission gave organizations the option to change their reappointment/re-privileging cycle from a 2-year period to a 3-year period, MSPs were instrumental in sparking conversations about potential modifications within their organizations, improving practitioner satisfaction and reducing the reappointment workload by a third.
MSPs are at the center of these and similar discussions when important regulatory changes occur. When these changes ultimately impact operations, MSPs incorporate updated information into the documents that govern the medical staff and the hospital. Continually refreshing bylaws, policies, and procedures helps organizations remain current and compliant with regulations. MSPs often ensure their organizations go above and beyond minimal requirements to support the best outcomes and incorporate best practices.
How to ensure the success of your MSPs
As patient safety advocates, MSPs perform important work in today’s healthcare organizations. They need the organization’s support to ensure their effectiveness. This support should include:
- Adequate staffing, based on the volume of work and/or the volume of providers in the organization. This includes a willingness to pursue interim staffing as well as remote or hybrid work arrangements, when needed.
- Clear and concise policies and procedures, along with technology to automate workflows and reduce MSP burnout.
- Executive-level champions to ensure the organization appoints quality practitioners who are committed to the mission of providing high-quality patient care.
- Technology and tools that automate as many functions as possible and shift the MSSD to a paperless environment.
Investment in the MSSD is investment in the organization’s future success
Through their tenacious work, MSPs form the building blocks for operational effectiveness. When leaders acknowledge the important role they play—and take steps to elevate the MSSD to a level that’s integral to performance—there’s an immediate domino effect on patient safety and quality of care. An investment in the MSSD is an investment in saving lives and securing a sound future for the organization.
