Accessing certain areas of a hospital should be easy enough for clearly identifiable clinical and administrative staff, patients, their family members and friends.
Most everyone else should satisfy established parameters and qualifications for the health, safety and welfare of everyone.
In other words, they should jump through plenty of hoops to guarantee little-to-no chance of aberrant and derelict behavior, violent outbursts, contagious diseases and illnesses, random malfeasance and unauthorized and unwanted solicitation because backgrounds must be thoroughly vetted and health records up-to-date.
Supply Chain hooked into the credentialing world more than a decade ago, selecting from nearly a dozen of software companies, or developing something in-house, a product to install to qualify sales representatives for clinical, medical/surgical, other healthcare and non-healthcare products and pharmaceuticals (search hpnonline.com for our extensive coverage through the years, including a list of players). By 2010, the industry extended the need for credentialing via the HITECH Act to encompass all business associates entering and moving throughout the facility, including delivery services for flowers, packages and even pizza.
Over time, industry demand for credentialing software failed to sustain the number of competitors and corporate options available so many of the companies succumbed to mergers and acquisitions. Today, several relatively common names prevail either as product offerings of familiar companies or under an entirely different brand name.
Because compliance credentialing extends beyond simple supplier access, questions can be raised about Supply Chain’s contributions to and influence on software selections, as such decisions logically may reside with the Information Technology department. After all, IT has to figure out how to plug any credentialing software into the hospital’s system, which can include enterprise-resource planning and electronic health record capabilities. Further, IT has to ensure any and all systems safely sit behind rigid firewalls as a cybersecurity measure to prevent against hacking.
Round holes, square pegs?
As compliance credentialing morphs into a much larger issue, where does Supply Chain fit into the mix?
At or near the top of the sourcing, influencing and decision-making heap, experts tell Healthcare Purchasing News.
“First, a well-managed compliance and credentialing program involves all stakeholders, from compliance and Supply Chain to IT and clinical departments,” said Chris Luoma, Vice President, Product Management, GHX, which offers its Vendormate service. “Second, a high-functioning supply chain works with every department in the enterprise — administration, IT, clinical, etc. — to standardize vendor relations, contracting, on boarding, compliance and logistics across the various relationships a health system must have. Finally, standardized vendor relationships and business processes simplify the process for third parties. This simplification leads to higher compliance rates. When you take all of this into account, it becomes obvious that Supply Chain owns a critical component of a successful compliance and credentialing program. As such, Supply Chain professionals should be involved when a health system evaluates and chooses a compliance and credentialing software package.”
Justin Poulin, RN, CMRP, Vice President of Sales, Green Security, contends that Supply Chain’s connections and influence as this market segment emerged justifies their deep involvement.
“Supply Chain ha extensive experience with compliance credentialing software,” Poulin noted. “This knowledge is extremely valuable in the sourcing process and is a resource to the departments that have not utilized a similar service. Many healthcare facilities have disparate systems and varied processes for managing non-employees. Those systems and processes are often deployed in silos relative to the departments that they support, such as Guest or Information Services, Security, Facilities, Engineering, Operating Room, Human Resources and Supply Chain. In some cases, no process has been established for a certain category of non-employees, such as vendors, contractors and visitors. The gaps created by those silos present a challenge to enforcing compliance. Supply Chain is engaged across the enterprise and has established critical relationships within the organization that are instrumental in closing gaps and establishing a standardized process for managing non-employee access.”
Julie Walker, General Manager and Vice President of Vendor and General Credentialing, symplr, advocates for Supply Chain’s influence and leadership in the area of compliance credentialing.
“Supply chain has traditionally taken the lead role in sourcing and selecting compliance credentialing software, given health care industry representatives have been the primary focus for non-employee credentialing,” Walker said. “As the definition of healthcare personnel has expanded to include contractors, service providers, researchers, students, volunteers, etc., and pressures to minimize foreseeable risks to patient and staff safety increased, we’re seeing more stakeholders like Compliance, Facility and Risk Management, Infection Control, and IT/Data Security involved in the credentialing system selection and decision-making process.
“Supply Chain should continue to play a lead role in sourcing, evaluating, and selecting compliance credentialing software,” she continued. “Supply Chain is responsible for managing the largest and highest risk-credentialed population and have the most extensive knowledge and proven experience in effectively selecting, implementing, and managing credentialing systems. They should be encouraged to collaborate with other key stakeholders, as needed, throughout the process.”
Bridging with IT
Yet as the Information Technology department oversees wired and wireless hardware and software connectivity and integration what specifically can Supply Chain contribute to the implementation process after sourcing for fixed and mobile capabilities and features?
Louma acknowledges that IT oversees components of a compliance and credentialing program, including system and network access, infrastructure and technical security. But that’s only part of the process.
“A truly complete program extends far beyond that and is woven into everyday business processes — ordering, contracting, physical access, logistics and payment — with suppliers,” he insisted. “Supply Chain specializes in not only negotiation and contracting, but also in optimizing business processes. With this in mind Supply Chain is a valuable resource to leverage in the selection process and is necessary to ensure that compliance is part of a health system’s operations. When compliance is not a separate process, but rather part of the standard process, health systems get higher adherence and minimize exposure to risk.”
IT maintains hardware and software to reduce or eliminate downtime, according to Poulin.
“Typically, IT departments prefer systems that are secure and require limited human resources to maintain,” he said. “However, IT is not responsible for the vision. Supply Chain leaders are skilled communicators who can share their vision and gain buy-in throughout the organization when deploying a new technology. They also have the project management skills to keep the implementation on target and ensure the vendor is held accountable for meeting the expectations set during the sourcing process.”
If anything, Supply Chain should serve as a bridge with IT on the compliance credentialing front, according to Walker.
“Supply Chain serves in an important role relative to sourcing and implementing credentialing solutions,” she indicated. “Specifically, their key responsibility is to effectively communicate system requirements with IT and collaborate to determine specifications necessary to ensure initial and ongoing system success. Also, most credentialing solutions are delivered using a Software as a Service (SaaS) model, versus on-premise software. Thus, the primary role of IT has been to evaluate credentialing system’s data security and related requirements. This step will ensure compliance with PHI, HIPAA, PII, and other industry requirements and standards.”
Walker urged healthcare organizations to keep Supply Chain plugged into the compliance credentialing process, no matter how diverse and extensive it grows.
“Supply Chain has extensive experience and a rich perspective in determining necessary credentialing solution needs, including key features and benefits, and as such, should maintain the lead role in the sourcing and implementation process,” she said.
Editor’s Note: For an historical retrospective on the compliance credentialing industry segment, search hpnonline.com using the terms “Vendor Credentialing” or “Supplier Credentialing.” Furthermore, visit the Consortium for Universal Healthcare Credentialing for additional information at
https://www.universalhealthcarecredentialing.org/.
Rick Dana Barlow | Senior Editor
Rick Dana Barlow is Senior Editor for Healthcare Purchasing News, an Endeavor Business Media publication. He can be reached at [email protected].
