ABSTRACT
Institutional Credentialing Credentialing is the responsibility of local hospital bodies. According to Joint Commission mandates, the medical staff has the responsibility to develop appropriate practice and competency standards and to document these principles in medical staff bylaws. These bylaws provide documentation and guidance for initial credentialing and periodic review (recredentialing) to assure maintenance of standards and the professional competence of all active hospital staff. Many hospitals require board certification, as a recognized minimal standard, for granting privileges and credentialing. Supportive of this policy, recent data have suggested some association between ABIM certification and improved health care delivery (9,10), although more research is needed to confirm or refute an association between certification and markers of quality outcomes. Physician scores in the highest quartile on ABIM Maintenance of Certification (MOC) testing were associated with improved quality care measures among their Medicare patients with diabetes after adjustment for patient and physician covariates (OR 1.17; 95% CI, 1.08-1.27) (9). Further suggestion of a relationship between performance on certification testing and
Table 53.1 The Six Accreditation Councils for Graduate Medical Education Core Competencies in Medical Education
1. Medical knowledge 2. Patient care 3. Practice-based learning and improvement
Evidence-based medicine Quality improvement
4. Systems-based practice Cost effectiveness Health care delivery and safety
5. Interpersonal and communications skills 6. Professionalism
Source: From Ref. 5.
