Telehealth Compliance
The telemedicine industry is facing a constant battle against mounting compliance risk, as an ever-increasing number of laws, regulations, and guidelines evolve to protect consumers and organizations. As the head of compliance in this sector, it is critical to ensure that your organization is in compliance with these regulations and that any risk of non-compliance is mitigated.
One effective way to reduce the risk of non-compliance is to implement a credentialing management solution. Credentialing is the important process of verifying the identification, qualifications, experience, and background of medical personnel such as physicians, physician assistants, nurses, and other allied health practitioners. By leveraging an automated credentialing management system, healthcare organizations are better able to adhere to required standards and comply with federal and state regulations.
Credentialing management involves a variety of activities, including obtaining and verifying licensure and malpractice insurance documents, learning about professional ethics and performance, and ensuring continuing education requirements are met. Credentialing management solutions enable healthcare organizations to more easily obtain, manage and store such information, in addition to many other tools to streamline the entire process.
One of the key ways in which such credentialing systems help mitigate compliance risk is by improving the accuracy and fidelity of provider data. When organizations are managing large volumes of documents, they are prone to errors due to human error or faulty systems. Credentialing systems often provide built-in checks and balances to help ensure data accuracy and can provide alerts for when expiry dates for licensure and other documents are soon approaching. This helps organizations remain in compliance and reduces the risk of costly errors and penalties.
Organizations can also leverage credentialing systems to ensure that providers are up-to-date with changes in laws and regulations. Credentialing management solutions typically offer the ability to customize policies and guidelines to ensure all providers are staying in compliance with relevant laws and regulations. This is pertinent for telemedicine as the industry is constantly changing and new regulations are emerging, such as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Telehealth Services Expansion. By staying up-to-date and being able to access the latest regulations with ease, healthcare organizations can quickly and accurately maintain compliance.
Credentialing management solutions also help organizations maintain compliance by streamlining the credentialing process. Automated credentialing systems can be integrated with other systems, such as medical staff directories and electronic health records (EHRs), and provide a holistic view of each clinician’s credentials, making it much easier to manage and monitor where there may be gaps in compliance. They also reduce paperwork and improve efficiencies, thereby reducing the effort and cost of complying with regulations.
Finally, organizations are also able to meet privacy requirements better with credentialing management solutions. By securely storing provider information, organizations can more easily adhere to HIPAA regulations and other data privacy requirements. Credentialing systems can also provide role-based access and other audit trails, to help ensure that data is secure.
In closing, it is evident that credentialing management solutions can be immensely beneficial in mitigating compliance risk. Healthcare organizations can leverage such solutions to more efficiently obtain, manage and store provider information, provide alerts for expiry dates, ensure providers are up-to-date with changes in regulations, streamline the credentialing process, and improve data security. Through the deployment of a comprehensive credentialing management system, the telemedicine industry can more effectively manage compliance and ensure protections for patients, practitioners, and organizations alike.
