Synergy - July/August 2014 - 6

EDITOR'S COLUMN

Finding Answers to Our
Questions and Concerns

R

ecently, a great friend and colleague
from Maryland emailed me about my
SYNERGY editorial. In thanking her for
her note, I asked her about topics I should
address in future editorials. Below is her
response, which I quote with a few edits to
protect the innocent!

Linda M. Waldorf, BS,
CPMSM, CPCS
Director, UNC OMSS and CCO
UNC Health Care System
CB 7600
101 Manning Drive
Chapel Hill, NC 27514
Phone: 919/966-1660
Fax: 919/843-0055
Linda.Waldorf@unch.unc.edu

"These are just a few of the things we deal
with on a daily basis:
1. How to work under a vice president
of medical affairs (VPMA) who
isn't familiar with credentialing or
privileging requirements.
2. How to grant privileges to physicians/
AHP's who don't have current
competence in those privileges.
3. When sales reps bring in new
equipment to show doctors how to use
it for procedures they aren't privileged
to perform (either the doctor doesn't
have the privilege that is on the
delineation, or the procedure isn't on
the delineation at all).
4. Board certification: How can you
require it across the board and write
your bylaws so they make sense with
the current staff who have never been
certified, or the folks who are coming
on board and are only within the exam
process?
5. You find out that your leadership allow
PAs and PA students to do lumbar
punctures, which aren't on their
delineation. What do you do?
6. What should really happen to all of
those physician incident reports that
make their way to your office from risk
management?
7. Mandatory education: What is really
required of all of the medical staff
versus what is required for employed/
contracted staff?
8. How can you train veteran physicians
to do new procedures for which they
are not privileged?"

6

/

S Y N E R G Y J U LY / A U G U S T 2 0 1 4

Her open and candid description of her
issues hit home that these questions and
concerns are the daily realities of medical
services professionals.
What can I say in this editorial that can be
of some benefit? While there is not space to
individually address all these questions and
concerns, I want to share my impressions as
I reflected on this response from my fellow
medical services professional.
The first thing that comes to my mind is the
importance of us staying focused on the big
picture, which is patient safety. We are the
gatekeepers of patient safety, and our work
is noble. We protect the most innocent in
our society-the young and old members of
our society who are sick and suffering.
The next thought that comes to my mind
is the importance of optimism. Keeping an
attitude of optimism will help us navigate
both new and familiar concerns in our
profession. Despite our many challenges,
our best days are yet to come. The advances
of medicine and technology are amazing.
Our society will continue to advance in
medicine, and our role will have increasing
importance as we ensure patients continue
to receive safe and competent medical care.
We can seek answers in the great resources
offered by NAMSS and our industry partners.
We can bring our questions and concerns to
the NAMSS Annual Conference and to our
State and Local Chapter meetings with the
expectation that we will receive ideas and
answers to help us with these perplexing and
even scary issues. If a particular session does
not answer our question, we can reach out
and network with others in attendance. The
networking session at the Annual Conference
is now free and open to all who want to
attend. I have found this session a great
place to ask questions and receive answers.
We can help each other.
I wish you great success in finding answers
to your questions and concerns.
Linda M. Waldorf, BS, CPMSM, CPCS
Synergy - July/August 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Synergy - July/August 2014
