A process of identifying individuals who have met established standards of the profession.
The recognition of professional or technical competence. The credentialing process may include registration, certification, licensure, professional association membership, or the award of a degree in the field. Certification and licensure affect the supply of health manpower by controlling entrance into practice, and influence the stability of the labor force by affecting geographic distribution, mobility, and retention of workers. Credentialing also determines the quality of personnel by providing standards for evaluating competence, and defining the scope of functions and how personnel may be used.
A term used to describe the process of determining eligibility for hospital medical staff membership, and privileges to be granted, to physicians and other professionals in the light of their academic preparation, licensing, training, and performance. Privileges are granted by the hospital’s governing body, ordinarily upon recommendation of the medical staff, usually via the medical staffs credentials committee. (The exact procedure for “credentialing” is delineated in the hospital or medical staff bylaws.) The governing body must first verify the physician’s credentials and determine whether they are adequate for admission to the medical staff. The governing body must then decide the more difficult question of what privileges the individual shall be granted initially and, upon periodic review of the professional’s credentials and performance, whether it is necessary to modify them. Credentials and performance are periodically reviewed, and medical staff membership (and/or privileges) may be denied, modified, or withdrawn.
Recognition by licensure, certification, proof of professional competence, or award of a degree in the field in which an individual has met certain educational or occupational standards.