In interviews with nearly 100 providers, GHX/Vendormate found that nearly 88% believe compliance controls will increase, and almost 76% expect all reps or a combination of on/offsite reps will be credentialed, Chrystie Leonard, general manager, credentialing and managed services, told Repertoire in mid-November. “We expect vendor credentialing to expand rapidly due to heightened security requirements and new market norms.”
Throughout the pandemic, GHX/Vendormate worked closely with the American Hospital Association and the Association for Healthcare Resource & Materials Management to vet more than 900 non-traditional PPE vendors, she says. Meanwhile, providers had to make decisions about how they would screen those reps who were allowed into the facilities – primarily those involved in supporting patient care.
In May, AdvaMed, the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN) and AHA released “Re-entry Guidance for Health Care Facilities and Medical Device Representatives” in which they recommended against testing asymptomatic reps for COVID-19.
“Most of our provider customers are currently following this guidance,” Leonard said. “In fact, we recently evaluated more than 200 COVID-19-related health system vendor policies and found only 5% of providers require viral (i.e., molecular or antigen) or serology (i.e. antibody) testing for representatives.”
GHX/Vendormate added COVID-19 screening and several other services and capabilities to its credentialing offerings to help hospitals re-open safely, she said. “Providers have put in place parallel COVID-19 requirements to re-enter their facilities – including badging requirements and wellness screening tests. GHX/Vendormate is working to integrate these elements into our comprehensive badging process to serve as a single solution to establish and implement policies.”
The company introduced a digital wellness screening declaration based on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines that outline the requirements for representatives to be able to gain access to healthcare facilities. Representatives are prompted to respond to questions on a mobile phone or tablet prior to arriving at a health system facility. Questions include whether the individual has recently been out of the country, whether they have been in contact with anyone who is sick, and whether they are running a fever, she said. “These declarations can be set at the department, facility and/or system level and are based on information GHX has compiled from hundreds of healthcare facility policies within our network,” Leonard said.
Read the full article at: http://repertoiremag.com/vendor-credentialing-very-much-active.html
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