4 Questions to Ask Your Credentials Verification Organization

We are all too familiar with the amount of work behind a position that requires time and detail sensitivity. The process of hiring someone to do that work will also require great scrutiny.

We are all too familiar with the amount of work behind a position that requires time and detail sensitivity. The process of hiring someone to do that work will also require great scrutiny.

When the amount of work exceeds available bandwidth, healthcare facilities consider hiring a Credentials Verification Organization (CVO). A CVO is a full-operations team when it comes to managing your facility’s credential files. You can revisit our last post on the benefits of outsourcing work to CVOs here.

Anyone who’s completed the credentialing process knows that there’s a lot that needs to be done consistently. When you’re delegating the work to another individual or group, you are putting a lot of trust in them. How do you ensure that you and the CVO are on the same page? You need to ask your CVO the right questions. Not taking this step and their answers seriously can hurt you and the facility in the end.

Let’s take a look at the 4 most important questions to ask your CVO.

1. How are you storing the information?

When a CVO handles your credentialing, you should feel at ease about how the information is stored. That is, they should be securing your stored data to prevent unauthorized access or data-loss.

It is good to know the location and level of security. For instance, is the CVO using physical files or storing data digitally? The storage method affects the accessibility of the most updated documents. Paper files require you to physically be with them, while cloud-stored credentialing information can be accessed anywhere with a web connection.

2. What are your methods for performing primary source verification?

The CVO’s most important responsibility is to perform primary source verification and provide you with the most accurate and updated information. PSV needs to be completed for every practitioner in the facility to ensure that they are legally qualified to practice.

Your CVO should inform you about how consistently they will be performing PSV and what their overall documentation workflow looks like.  

3. How are you keeping track of credential documents’ expiration dates?

When the facility’s doctors each have different license and certification expiration times, that’s a lot of dates to keep track of. It is on your CVO to know the credentials’ statuses at any point in the credentialing cycle.

Is your CVO is using tools powerful enough to ensure that not one expiring credential will be missed? We hope so. While it is important to know that they will be notified at the time of the expiration, the key to staying compliant is to know and prepare well in advance.

Silversheet can create filtered reports based on the expiration dates of the credential files. It’s an easy way to see what is current, about to expire, or already expired at a glance.

4. What will our communication look like?

Open and honest communication is vital to your relationship with the CVO. If you have questions or concerns, your CVO should be available and flexible in their responses. Likewise, it is important for you to be notified if any issues arise.

One thing to keep in mind while establishing your partnership is how often you will be receiving updates throughout the credentialing process. CVO Specialists should be excellent communicators who are diplomatic when dealing with provider credentialing.

If you aren’t working with a CVO but are looking for ways to reduce your workload, Silversheet can help you securely and efficiently manage your credential files by offering cloud-based technology similar to that of a CVO.

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