SpecialtyCare Celebrates Medical Staff Services Awareness Week

In 1992, George W. Bush signed a Congressional House Joint Resolution declaring a week of November as Medical Staff Services Awareness Week. Since then, National Medical Staff Services have partnered with hospitals, doctors’ offices, university health systems, and government agencies to promote awareness of medical staff services and their significant contributions to our healthcare system. SpecialtyCare is proud to celebrate Medical Staff Services Awareness Week, highlighting these individuals’ notable impact on the healthcare industry. 

Who Are Medical Staff Professionals?

Medical staff professionals (MSPs) assist medical staff and leadership in performing core functions, including peer review, performance improvement, and credentialing for healthcare providers. With new technologies and other advancements within the healthcare industry, the duties and responsibilities of MSPs continue to evolve. Some of their core responsibilities include:

Managing the Provider Enrollment Process

Maintain providers’ enrollment information within the database and pull reports for various departments, including hospital administration, marketing, payroll, and clinic directors and managers. 

Analyzing and Managing Data Verification

Identify trends, problems, and cause-effect relationships to recognize associations among single issues or series of events.

Conducting and Maintaining Credentialing and Privileging Process

Oversee credentialing and privileging requests and evaluate adequate education, training, and experience. Delivers data to the practitioner for review to determine eligibility.  

Overseeing Clinical Competency Evaluations and Peer Reviews

Recognizes, investigates, and validates discrepancies and adverse information.

Managing Compliance with State and Federal Accreditation Standards and Requirements

Participates in regular surveys and audits and obtains practitioner data to ensure all accreditation standards are compliant. Develops and updates governing documents to ensure organizational practices remain compliant with accreditation standards.

Managing Departmental Operations

Verifies documents to ensure there are no expirations and remains compliant with accreditation and regulatory standards. 

Facilitating Medical Staff Functions 

Collaborates with executive teams to integrate operational needs into strategic planning processes while promoting practitioner advocacy, departmental effectiveness, and regulatory readiness. 

The Future of Medical Staff Professionals 

As the healthcare industry evolves, MSPs will need to acquire new knowledge and skills to perform expanded duties and responsibilities. Many skills are essential to staying current with the growing nature of this field. Additionally, specific skill sets need to be mastered for MSPs to advance to the next level of their career. These essential skills include:

  • Analytical Thinking 
  • Budget/Finance 
  • Change Management 
  • Clinical Competence 
  • Communication 
  • Confidentiality 
  • Contracting 
  • Evaluation
  • Flexibility/Adaptability 
  • Human Resources 
  • Information Technology 
  • Legal
  • Managed Care
  • Performance Improvement 
  • Political Savvy 
  • Presentation Skills 
  • Professional Ethics 
  • Professional Presence 
  • Project Management 
  • Quality Review 
  • Relationship Building 
  • Risk Management 
  • Team Building 

Innovations and advancements in technology are transforming the healthcare industry. Virtual healthcare, augmented reality (AR), and artificial intelligence (AI) are shifting the type of care patients receive and how physicians provide it. MSPs must adopt new skillsets to remain relevant in a competitive landscape, adapt to new operational processes, and become more innovative in how they perform their everyday duties. As a result, they’ll be able to elevate their roles within their organization and advance the profession. 

Medical Staff Services Awareness Week 

SpecialtyCare wants to extend our sincere thank you to all of the medical service professionals. This week, SpecialtyCare wants to highlight all of our MSPs notable contributions and their positive impact on advancing the healthcare industry forward every day.

About SpecialtyCare

SpecialtyCare is a people company, dedicated to providing an exceptional patient experience, becoming the OR employer of choice, and leading the way in OR innovation.