New York Regulations Related to Medical Staff Credentialing Revised

The New York regulations related to the credentialing of medical staff personnel have been revised, effective December 22, 2010. In particular, the regulations have been revised to reduce the required “look-back period” for medical staff credentialing from 10 years to five years.

During this “look-back period,” hospitals are mandated to query all hospitals at which a medical staff applicant had been employed, had privileges or had been otherwise associated whether the medical staff applicant was subject to any (1) pending professional misconduct or malpractice proceedings; (2) judgments, settlements or findings related to malpractice or professional misconduct; and (3) reports to the Office of Professional Medical Conduct concerning impairment, misconduct, voluntary resignation or withdrawal of privileges to avoid disciplinary measures, or criminal convictions.

In shortening the “look-back period” from 10 years to five years, the proposed regulations note that most of the information required to be obtained from the hospitals also is accessible through other sources, such as through the National Practitioner Data Bank. Therefore, shortening the look-back period should not adversely affect the information obtained. Further, reducing the look-back period could reduce the cost to hospitals of the credentialing process.

For more information, please visit The HLP website, or contact Carey F. Kalmowitz, Esq. or Adrienne Dresevic, Esq. at (248) 996-8510 or (212) 734-0128.