Improvements Coming for Physician Evaluations
Provider Services is working with hospital departments to restructure medical staff performance evaluations to gain more comprehensive and objective data to better evaluate physicians, physician assistants and advance practice nurses. This will help BWH meet Joint Commission standards for focused professional practice evaluation (FPPE) and ongoing professional practice evaluation (OPPE).
"This will help us work towards creating a climate of professionalism that will support our mission to deliver excellent patient care, educate the next generation of clinicians and advance our medical knowledge through bench and clinical research," said Bonnie Bermas, MD, an attending physician in the Division of Rheumatology, Immunology & Allergy and chair of the credentialing committee for the Department of Medicine. Bermas is helping to develop the new credentialing evaluation efforts for the hospital.
BWH Provider Services is working with departments to develop review processes, identify appropriate performance metrics and finalize evaluation forms. Focused evaluations are to be completed with initial granting of privileges or granting of new privileges. Physicians, physician assistants and advance practice nurses then will be evaluated continually over the course of their appointment through ongoing evluations.
"Previously, we completed evaluations every two years as we re-granted credentials," said Gwen Gilchrist, director of Provider Services. "Now, we're working with departments to document quality assessments and metrics which are already captured on a regular basis."
Departments must address the six core competencies as identified by both the ACGME and the Joint Commission in both the FPPE and the OPPE: Patient Care, Medical Knowledge, Practice Based Learning and Improvement, Interpersonal and Communication Skills, Professionalism and Systems-Based Practice.
Provider Services staff are available to assist departments with developing and finalizing documentation for both the FPPE and OPPE. Contact Joanna Hazell at 617-582-1192 or jhazell@partners.org; or Emily Mock at 617-582-1228 or emock@partners.org.