Have you ever wondered how doctors, nurses and other health care professionals land at a particular hospital? Maybe you remember your own job-hunting process – the applications, interviews, background checks, training. Considering that many health care providers deal with life and death, what does their hiring process involve?

To say it’s laborious is an understatement. Many aspects of education, training and licenses can determine if a person is qualified to deliver patient care. “Medical Staff Services professionals ensure that physicians and allied health members are trained or certified to provide the level of care patients need. There is a lengthy process of verification and eligibility that must be completed before a provider is granted working privileges within our organization. It’s our job to process their applications, much like employment applications,” says Kristal Thrower, CPCS.

Thrower works as a certified provider credentialing specialist in Southeast Georgia Health System’s Medical Staff Services department. There are currently 424 credentialed medical providers on the Brunswick Campus and 267 on the Camden Campus. “We are the gatekeepers of patient safety,” Thrower says.

Overseeing this hive of activity is Director Amanda Hunt, CPCS, CPMSM. She understands that her team performs an essential service, even if the public isn’t aware of their work. “Medical Staff Services is sometimes an unknown department, but what they do every day has a huge impact on the organization and patient safety. Our team ensures that the physicians and allied health professionals continuously provide excellent care to our patients and community.”

The Impact on Patient Care
The last thing you want to worry about before having surgery, delivering a baby, or entering the emergency room is whether your caregivers are capable. Patients and their families rely on the due diligence of people like Thrower and her co-workers Shannon Smith, Brandi Brauda, Melanie Todd, Sabrina McPipkin and Vickie Hall to credential the best and brightest. As a Medical Staff Services Coordinator, McPipkin evaluates and reviews all Health System medical professionals. “Our department combines initial credentialing, ongoing evaluations, peer review and a reappointment process to ensure the best standard of care is provided to the community,” McPipkin says, adding, “The quality of work that comes out of our department is extremely important to the Health System and the community. Knowing providers have current certifications and training and continually evaluating their performance provides comfort and security for patients and their families.”

The job doesn’t end when a person is credentialed. Advanced nurse practitioners, physician assistants, doctors and others who work with patients must take continuing education classes to maintain their license or certification before they can be reappointed for their job. “Reappointments are completed every two years on a rotating basis for both allied health and physicians,” explains Thrower, who reviews and processes all reappointed individuals.

Going the Extra Mile
How you behave when no one is watching reveals your character. Working behind the scenes, the Medical Staff Services team may not see the impact of their work, but they know it counts. They leave no stone unturned when evaluating providers. “Unlike employment applications, credentialing applications require a separate level of due diligence and can be very time consuming. There are multiple levels of verification and follow up required. Often, providers have years of education, training and practice history that must be verified,” Thrower says. There are times the team expedites this process when a patient needs a specific type of care, even when it means working long hours. “We truly have an amazing team; they are dedicated to what they do and always go above and beyond,” Hunt says.

It takes a cool head and a dogged pursuit of details to sort everything out. And that’s in a regular year. The pandemic produced staffing shortages that increased pressure across all Health System departments, including Medical Staff Services. “Our department has seen the stress our medical staff have been under. A greater appreciation for the true meaning of teamwork across our Health System has been the light at the end of the tunnel. Our office is just one of the departments that makes the entire system work cohesively,” Thrower says.

“So many people have lost so much over the last year and many are still suffering loss and grief. I think it’s important for us to keep moving forward and support one another with kindness,” McPipkin adds. “Simple gestures, such as a smile or hello, go a long way and possibly brighten up someone’s day.”

As an 11-year veteran of her department, Kristal Thrower trusts her co-workers to find the right people for the job. “I can honestly say we currently have the best team. I am proud that we all work to ensure that our community is in good hands.” McPipkin agrees with her colleague stating, “I am very lucky to belong to a group of people who work well independently, but yet still work wonderfully together as a team. Everyone is supportive and doesn’t hesitate to help out when needed.”