Update on NAMSS’ Ideal Credentialing Standards
Background
The January 2024 release of revised Ideal Credentialing Standards (ICS) from the National Association Medical Staff Services (NAMSS) signified a growing momentum across the health care industry to remove invasive health questions that have long stigmatized health care professionals.
NAMSS’ revised ICS, which outlines best practices for initial-practitioner credentialing, provides health care organizations vetted and endorsed language to appropriately inquire about an applicant’s health status.
NAMSS’ language recommendations represent the health care industry’s shift away from intrusive language that has long isolated and harmed health care professionals. In developing this language, NAMSS worked with the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes Foundation (DLBHF) and the AMA to help standardize guidance for appropriately inquiring about an applicant’s health status so that it could be applied across all levels of health care.
The ICS’ health-status language specifically aligns with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Impact Wellbeing™ campaign and the AMA’s Joy in Medicine™ program to support physician well-being. It also aligns with the DLBHF’s Wellbeing First Champions Challenge (PDF) to help health care systems and state licensure boards align health-status inquiries with the above recommendations.
Language update to the Ideal Credentialing Standards
While NAMSS, the AMA and the DLBHF stand by the ICS’ health-status language, all three organizations recognize that conflicting national requirements around health-status language may deter organizations from making meaningful changes to their applications. To help more MSPs and their organizations align with the ICS, NAMSS added the bolded language to the ICS’ Element 10: Health Status and Element 13: Peer and Professional References:
Are you currently suffering from any condition for which you are not being appropriately treated that impairs your judgment or that would otherwise adversely affect your ability to practice medicine in a competent, ethical, and professional manner? (Yes/No)*
*While NAMSS, the American Medical Association, and the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes Foundation recommend the above ICS language for inquiring about an applicant’s health status, these three organizations agree that it is permissible for healthcare entities to remove, if necessary, “…for which you are not being appropriately treated…,” to meet all existing standards.
NAMSS, the AMA, and the DLBHF are pleased to see a growing interest in removing harmful health-status questions across the health care industry and look forward to continuing to make progress on this front to ensure best practices for practitioner credentialing and beyond. Please feel free to contact mford@namss.org with questions pertaining to NAMSS’ ICS.
Learn about revisions to AMA Guides® Sixth 2024
As of Dec. 1, 2024, the AMA recognizes the updated AMA Guides® Sixth 2024 as the latest edition and the current version of AMA Guides® to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment, Sixth Edition.
AMA Guides® Sixth 2024 includes significant content updates and simplifications to the rating methodologies with improved inter-rater reliability. Please be sure to review updates for the following chapters:
Chapter 15: The Upper Extremities
Chapter 16: The Lower Extremities
Chapter 17: The Spine and Pelvis
The updated AMA Guides content offers:
Evidence-based enhancements, supporting accurate, relevant impairment assessments.
Streamlined three-grade rating system, improving reliability and aiding regulatory oversight.
Simplified evaluation processes using Diagnosis-Based Impairment (DBI) grids, reducing rating variations.
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More articles in this issue
- March 7, 2025: Medicare Payment Reform Advocacy Update
- March 7, 2025: National Advocacy Update
- March 7, 2025: State Advocacy Update
