Vendor credentialing as a phenomenon came to being due to the lack of basic maintenance of patients’ medical records by hospitals. Around twenty to thirty years ago, anybody could enter the hospitals and check for patients’ medical records, with nobody to stop or question them. That was the time when vendor credentialing was just another administrative task hardly taken care of. And most of the vendors ignored the processes. Thus, vendor credentialing was made necessary.

But why is vendor credentialing important?

Below are 5 important reasons that explain and justify the requirement for vendor credentialing.

– You wouldn’t want to take risks when it came to hiring vendors – In the high competitive world today, it is important to think twice before taking any step in any business. One minute error can cause bigger problems. Therefore, it is very important to hire an employee, supplier or a vendor only after verifying their business, background, their financial status etc.

– To ensure that people going through the medical records are qualified to do so – Medical records or any document pertaining to medicine is not something that anybody can comprehend. The person handling such files needs to know what he or she is getting into. There are no second chances in this department. If you make a small mistake, it could risk your job and someone’s life.

– To maintain hygienic and healthy working conditions – Vendor credentialing ensure that the person hired has cleared medical examinations, as it is very important to hire healthy staff in health organization, to retain credibility of patients.

– To avoid bias in choosing vendors – Most of the hospitals today work with multiple vendors on a day-to-day basis. However there’s a certain qualification that is required to become a vendor. There should not be any personal favor in hiring vendors. The larger goal is to do good for everybody. Credentialing requires each and every vendor to go through certain examinations. And every vendor is checked for his or her credibility, financial status, and network and business style. Thus, no one vendor can blame the organization for unfair procedure of selection.

– To eliminate case of fake reports – Many vendors produce fake documents to partner with the organization. This usually happens only when there is no background check done on the vendors, or are taken on the basis of personal contact or favors. Vendor credentialing doesn’t give any opportunity to vendors to produce fraudulent information.

The above 5 points justify the reason behind vendor credentialing. It is also essential to keep this information up to date and verified. As the hospital gets busy with daily operations, they delegate the process of filing these credentials to certain representatives known as the credential agents. These agents keep in touch with the hospital’s suppliers, vendors and employees and get their credentials documented and regularly updated. They further delegate this to the employees, clients and vendors. By reminding them of the expiration of their credentials, with regular emails or messages, they ensure these credentials are updated. Once these files are updated, they send it to the organizations for final consent.

For more information, please visit our Reptrax Credentialing website.

For more information, please visit our Reptrax Credentialing website http://www.hipaaexams.com/credentialing.asp

Author Bio: For more information, please visit our Reptrax Credentialing website.

Category: Advice
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