Following the AMA’s recommendation that credentialing application language should focus on a physician’s current state and not ask about past diagnoses or treatments, the National Association Medical Staff Services (NAMSS) has removed two stigmatizing questions from its standard credentialing application. The changes to each question are as follows:
Health Status
NAMSS now recommends that its members use a single question:
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)
Peer References
NAMSS now recommends its members use this question:
To your actual knowledge, is the applicant currently suffering from or experiencing any condition or health issue that is not being treated and that impairs the applicant’s judgment or that would otherwise affect the applicant’s ability to practice medicine in a competent, ethical, and professional manner? (Yes/No) Responses to this question are confidential and used strictly for credentialing purposes. This question should not be answered if doing so would or could violate physician/patient obligations.
On their own, these changes are great news—even better news is Massachusetts’ efforts to eliminate stigmatizing questions from the credentialing process.
AMA President Jesse M. Ehrenfeld, MD, MPH, commended the Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association, Massachusetts Medical Society and all the stakeholders in the state that “have made the commitment to support physicians’ health and wellness by removing stigmatizing questions about past treatment or diagnosis of a mental illness or substance use disorder on credentialing applications and peer review forms.”
This is just the beginning. The AMA is urging “all other state hospital associations to make the same commitment and join a growing number of leading state and national organizations that recognize the urgent need to make these changes,” Dr. Ehrenfeld said.