Credentialing Corner

# How Medical Credentialing Services Help In Protection From Lawsuits?

- May 28, 2024
- Posted by Kristen Edwards

21 Sep

Healthcare providers are the savior of humanity, and they have proved these things during pandemics, endemics, war periods, and daily routine ailment cases. But evil also prevails as some healthcare workers are not qualified enough to practice medicine but pretend to be qualified doctors and play with people’s lives. This is an alarming condition.

Therefore, it is necessary to check and verify all the required details, like their degrees, experience, practice license, and other qualifications, to make this process transparent and effective. There should be regulatory authority to check and verify everything, which helps maintain the integrity of the healthcare system. This is important for the safety of patients and healthcare providers to withstand any patient accession regarding the quality of treatment. Therefore, medical credentialing of the healthcare provider is essential to make the medical system efficient.

## What is Medical Credentialing?

Medical credentialing is a process in which all the data about the healthcare provider is verified, and it is decided whether his qualifications and work experience match the standards of the US healthcare system. After all the verifications, he is awarded a work or practice permit by the relevant department. Persons mainly do medical credentialing with a degree outside of the US. Therefore, it becomes essential to do the medical credentialing of the person before granting him a work permit or providing him with any job opportunity in the healthcare institutes.

## Medical Credentialing and Protection from Lawsuits

Medical credentialing verifies that the person is eligible and competent for the medical practice, and the approved and verified person always has fewer legal risks. Medical credentialing helps the healthcare organization hire experts with enough knowledge and skills to do the job. In this article, we will talk about the benefits of the medical credentialing process and how it helps in protection from lawsuits.

## Advantages of Medical Credentialing

### ● Trust between Patient and Doctor

When the patient knows that all the doctors have undergone medical credentialing and are verified as doctors, a natural trust develops between the patient and the healthcare provider. This helps in the quick and effective treatment of the patient as the patient will consider every advice of the Doctor, and the patient will trust everything the Doctor tells him. In case of any mishap, patients or their attendants will not blame the Doctor without any logic.

### ● Patients Safety

Medical credentialing is the testimony that all the qualified and highly skilled physicians will be hired for the job, and there will be significantly fewer chances of negligence in the diagnostic and treatment procedures. Patient safety is the priority, and with the help of medical credentialing, it is secured.

### ● Reputation Management

Those healthcare organizations prioritizing the medical credentialing service before giving a job to any physician are the symbol of quality and safety. It shows they are trying their best to save the patients from falling into the wrong hands. These institutes earn respect in people’s eyes, and their reputation in the city is boosted. This will keep you high in the medicine market, and more patients will come to your healthcare organization to seek better medical treatment.

### ● Prevent Revenue Loss

Suppose the healthcare providers are verified and approved by the medical credentialing authority. In that case, there will be fewer disputes between the physicians and insurers as insurers issue reimbursement installments to the verified physicians. This will help decrease the revenue loss, and all the costs will be paid to the physicians for their given medical services.

## Steps of Medical Credentialing necessary to escape Lawsuits Safely

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### ● Verification Data and Information

Medical credentialing verifies all the healthcare provider’s data and issues a certificate that he is a professional and qualified doctor. In case of any lawsuits, it can be presented that the organization has all the staff who has gone through the medical credentialing process, and there is no chance of any negligence or other carelessness. This will help to get the trust of the patients and the court. Suppose the patients already know about the credentialing process. In that case, there is a reasonable probability ratio that they will only go to court with clear evidence or just based on predictions and assessments.

### ● Credibility of the Healthcare Provider

Medical credentialing also checks and verifies the candidate’s educational background and work experience, and it will help the healthcare provider escape the accusations of malpractice or being quack. This will also help healthcare providers work without fear of lawsuits or other legal risks. Medical credentialing also checks the training and skills of the candidate and allows the healthcare institute to hire only highly skilled candidates. Therefore, the accusations of negligence or malpractice are of no value.

### ● Medical Practice License

After all verifications, the medical credentialing authority grants the candidate a work permit, and they are free to treat the patients. Also, they can apply to any organization for the job. So, any lawsuit against the work permit will be declared useless, and the case will be discharged in no time in court.

### ● Board Certification

Healthcare providers can’t rely on their degrees; they need to upgrade their knowledge, skills, and records. They need to attend various seminars, workshops, and training courses. After this, the credentialing board will give them certification for each skill they develop from these courses, which will help them get protection from all lawsuits.

### ● Background Record

In case of any lawsuit, the background record of the Doctor is asked, and the data assess whether he is unqualified or qualified. Therefore, healthcare providers must keep their background transparent, and the medical credentialing board grants you a clarification certificate of your background record, which you can present in court to prove yourself professional and eligible.

### ● Insurance requirements

Insurers only work with those verified by the medical credentialing board because they don’t want legal issues. Insurance companies ask for medical credentialing certification and then sign a contract about the reimbursement rates with the healthcare provider. Medical credentialing also protects the healthcare provider from any lawsuit raised by the insurers because you meet all the requirements of insurers, and the medical credentialing board can verify this.

## Protection from Lawsuits

### ● Strengthen Legal Defense

If the healthcare provider has gone through the medical credentialing process, then the case

against any complaint will be robust concerning the healthcare provider. His lawyer can present all the verified documents and work permits issued by the medical credentialing board, a renowned US department. The court will indeed consider the verified documents, and the legal defense of the healthcare professional will be vital.

### ● Decreased Negligent Hiring Claims

Medical credentialing of the healthcare provider before hiring him for the job is a good step in keeping the quacks and unqualified people away. This will also decrease the lawsuits against healthcare organizations for hiring unskilled physicians. Healthcare organizations can work without any fear of accusations, and it brings positive change to the health industry.

### ● Verified Data as Evidence

In case of any lawsuit of low-quality work, unskilled surgical procedure, or wrong medical treatment, a healthcare worker can prove himself professional and skilled by demonstrating the practice license, verified degrees, and work experience certification. These things can be provided in court as evidence. Therefore, healthcare providers can easily withstand any lawsuit if they follow all the steps of the medical credentialing process.

### ● Integrity Maintenance

If you own a healthcare institute, maintaining your organization’s integrity should be your priority to increase patient traffic to your hospital. For that reason, medical credentialing is mandatory for all the healthcare providers in your institute. This will give a sense to the people that transparent, efficient, and adequate medical services are provided. In case of any lawsuit, there is no need to worry because you have all qualified doctors, and the court will undoubtedly dismiss the case. There will be no stain on the name of your institute. The institute’s integrity will be maintained, attracting more patients to your hospital to seek medical assistance.

## Conclusion

Patients always want the best medical treatment as they are very conscious about their health. For that reason, it is essential to have qualified and skilled healthcare workers in healthcare organizations. Medical credentialing is the only process to achieve this result. In this process, the whole data and information of the candidate is verified, then he is allowed to work as a doctor or seek a job in any institute. Medical credentialing helps in protection from lawsuits as the board confirms the healthcare worker, and there will be no legal risks in case of any petition against the healthcare provider.

Healthcare needs to undergo all the steps like verification of degrees and work experience, getting a practice license, undergoing training courses, and seeking continuous knowledge to meet the US health standards. These steps to withstanding all the legal proceedings as medical credentialing help to strengthen the legal defense, decrease negligent hiring claims on the healthcare organizations, and verify data as evidence in the court. Therefore, it is clear that medical credentialing is very important to live a happy, successful life as a medical healthcare provider.

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