Gotta Love Mondays

We survived the weekend. It was relaxing. But here we go again... Gotta love Mondays. There is twice as much mail at work on Mondays. There are usually twice as many calls and messages too. People must sit around all weekend long dreaming up things to ask me about on Monday. If it's Tuesday, they must just think to themselves..."I think I'll save this one for NEXT Monday." Ugh.

Do you ever wonder what it is that I do at work? Ask different people and get different answers. Most anyone would say they aren't sure. The docs - they mostly love me, except maybe a couple. My co-workers... well... who knows what they might say. My boss... again could be questionable.

Well, just so you know... I'm a Credentialing Specialist. When doctors (and some other types of practitioners) come and want to work at the Hospital, I check their credentials. You know, so a foot doctor isn't performing heart surgery just because he has "MD" behind his name. Or, so an orthopedic doctor isn't delivering a baby... or an OB/GYN performing brain surgery! Imagine that! Anyway - they fill out some papers and tell me all about themselves. I verify that they are who they say they are and correspond with all the places they have worked and/or trained. I write and send letters to locations all around the world. Sometimes I can't quite interpret the response, but I try. I verify that their licensures and certifications are up-to-date and without disciplinary action. I look at their malpractice claims history and determine if there are any trends that might indicate a problem in their clinical abilities. I review their references and obtain evaluations from their peers and training directors. I gather piles and piles of information about them and give it to some key physicians who are serving in leadership positions at the Hospital. These guys are the ones who actually make decisions about what the newbies can and cannot do.

That is not all. Once a doc is permitted to join the Medical Staff, I do this all over again every two years! In addition, the Hospital collects data about physicians that shows the quality of their work. This information is collected by various entities within the Hospital who then compare each physician to his peers. All of this information is filtered into the Medical Staff Office. If and when a quality issue arises, we work with various entities to establish a plan for correction/improvement. All of this information is considered at the time of re-credentialing. It is quite interesting. We even track how many patient complaints each physician has! Neat!

While I'm talking about work, I might add that I will be moving my office location in the next couple of weeks. I'm completely crowded in my little hole of an office that I share with my boss. I have file boxes surrounding me on the floor, covering over half of my desk space, and filling the cart. Ugh. I have way too much stuff! I'm not set up so well to work at home as I was in Kentucky. So, my boss found another office suite where I will move and take all the files with me. Ahhhh... finally... some space!!! It will be more secluded, in a separate building. There is a reception area, two small offices - one for me and one for a spare, a file room, 2 closets, and get this... it's own bathroom!!! I will be sharing the space with our receptionist. Just the two of us... in our own little space. How nice will that be!!! My boss says we can "Fuffy-up" the bathroom since it's just us girls. Ha ha!!! Anyway I am excited about the move. For now, they are painting and replacing the carpet so the move is a couple weeks away.

I suppose that is enough for one day's chatter. I should spend some time with Keith. He starts his new job next week.

G'night all.