Managing credentials can seem like a daunting task, however, with an ever-changing healthcare landscape, it is imperative to stay up-to-date on credentialing best practices. Having the right processes in place will help alleviate the burden of ensuring that qualified caregivers are maintaining up to date documentation. This ultimately results in a smooth onboarding process that emphasizes both security and quality.

Here at Stat Staff Professionals, we take pride in maintaining security measures with our own caregivers by regularly checking and enhancing our procedures. Vice President, Tom Kernan and Credentialing Lead, Laurie VanValkenburg sat down to answer some questions about Stat Staff’s credentialing process:

Q: How are Stat Staff’s Caregiver credentials currently being securely stored?

Tom: Our system uses two-factor authentication to control access to caregiver credentials. The system itself encrypts all personal identifying information both in transit and at rest- meaning that if someone were to get in, the data would be indecipherable to them. Essentially, we protect the data with encryption and permission-based access.

Q: Has there ever been a breach in security at SSP? If so, how was it addressed/solved?

Laurie: To my knowledge, there has never been a breach. However, we do have a data security and incident response plan in place should this issue ever arise.

Tom: This plan aims to secure sensitive data through technical, administrative and physical safeguards and to provide a roadmap for responding to and identifying anyone whose information may have been compromised. In addition to providing the required notifications, our process involves both identifying and correcting the deficiency that allowed the potential breach to occur. We also maintain cyber liability insurance with betterment cover to help us address any issues arising out of a potential breach.

Q: When hiring a new Credentialing employee, what is the most important training component?

Laurie: Protecting the privacy of the caregivers. They are handing over their private documents, so we do look for candidates who have the essential training for this.

Stat Staff Professionals is dedicated to providing quality staff members both in and out of the hospital setting. Credentialing teams play a vital role in the onboarding process of new staff members. Assessing the qualifications of our caregivers by obtaining and verifying their information ensures that only the highest quality caregivers are performing at the bedside. Maintaining compliance standards is not only important for patient safety, but also for reliability and positively impacting the organization as a whole.