LOS ANGELES--(Business Wire)--
In an effort to understand -- and highlight -- the extent to which the health
care community is exposed to increased liability due to the large number of
medical professionals practicing medicine without valid credentials, a recent
study was conducted to determine how often nursing homes monitor their health
employees` credentials.
"Health care organizations, including nursing homes, increase risk and arguably patient safety by failing to implement a risk-management process that includes ongoing verification of employee credentials," notes Philip J. Collias, J.D., vice president of Lockton Insurance Brokers, LLC, the world`s largest privately owned, independent insurance broker. "State inspectors conduct quality-check surveys on a regular basis to determine if a nursing home is providing quality care and employing qualified staff, but what this survey shows is that enormous time gaps remain in many of these facilities between completion of an inspection and data posting. Exposure is created by the gap in time between credentialing and re-credentialing. Ideally, a system that is continuously credentialed would reduce or eliminate the exposure."
The survey team contacted more than 400 nursing homes from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) list of Special Focus Facility (SFF) - those cited for persistent violations -- as well as a random selection of nursing homes in California, New York, and Texas, asking how often they verify the credentials of their employees.
Of the SFF nursing homes only 13.7 percent verified credentials every month, while 19 percent performed this task annually.
Of the nursing homes in California, New York, and Texas, less than 12 percent verified credentials every month, while roughly 20 percent did so annually.
"These numbers tell us that the most problematic SFF nursing homes - those with twice the average number of deficiencies - also fall short in verifying their employees` credentials," Collias adds. "In fact, these are the same homes that present a pattern of more serious problems than most other nursing homes, such as harm or injury to residents, as well as a pattern of problems enduring over a long period of time."
Well-run companies implement a sound risk-management strategy for reducing the likelihood of these types of occurrences. This includes understanding the issue and implementing a plan -- which should include the use of continuous credentialing technologies that monitor on an ongoing basis and address problems in systematic way. Increasingly, continuous updating of credentials will become a reasonable standard to adopt, and companies will have to consider it, along with traditional insurance, to minimize liability associated with allegations of negligent credentialing.
The study concludes that the lack of proper and timely credential verification threatens the stability of health care facilities and the integrity of the entire industry as a whole. Typically, nursing homes, and many health care organizations, expose themselves to a greater potential for liability because their provider data management environment is completely inefficient. Providers are often asked to fill out multiple applications with the same information, and health care organizations spend billions verifying the same information.
About CPR Strategic Marketing Communications
Founded in 1981, CPR draws upon its firm understanding of the challenges and successes of the healthcare industry to deliver strategically guided public relations, advertising and interactive services to a wide variety of established and emerging organizations. Our solutions draw directly upon the over 100 years of combined healthcare experience of our team to provide innovative and effective corporate and product communications campaigns. For more information, please visit www.cpronline.com, or e-mail pr@cpronline.com, or call 201-641-1911 x50.
About Gathers Strategies, Inc.
Gathers Strategies, Inc. is a business development consulting practice, based in Los Angeles, California, with a health care solutions practice area focused on assessing and advocating effective risk management strategies to private and public health care clients. Contact: dgathers@gathersstrategies.com or 213.291.6199.