Consortium for Universal Healthcare Credentialing Aims to Improve Healthcare Credentialing Accredited National Standards

Consortium for Universal Healthcare Credentialing (C4UHC) Aims to Increase Patient Privacy, Control Infections and Decreases Costs at Hospitals Across the U.S.

DOVER, DELEWARE, USA, April 24, 2023/EINPresswire.com/ -- Consortium for Universal Healthcare Credentialing (C4UHC) Aims to Increase Patient Privacy, Control Infections and Decreases Costs at Hospitals Across the U.S.

Consortium for Universal Healthcare Credentialing, Inc. (C4UHC) advocates for the adoption of universal standards to streamline the credentialing process for medical device and pharmaceutical representatives entering hospitals and care centers. This is crucial to improving patient privacy, reducing infections, and decreasing hospital expenses across the United States. However, hospital requirements and vendor credentialing standards currently vary, leading to inefficiencies and increased overhead. By establishing a universal standard, C4UHC aims to achieve significant healthcare efficiencies, leading to better outcomes and lowered costs.

To achieve this, C4UHC created the Accredited American National Standards Institute (ANSI)/ National Electrical Manufacturing Association (NEMA) SC 1-2020 Supplier Credentialing in Healthcare in 2019. The standard ensures patient privacy and confidentiality, reduces the risk of infection and communicable diseases, and improves workplace and patient safety. Implementing this standard can help reduce safety hazards, ultimately improving patient outcomes and creating financial savings.

The credentialing process has become more complex due to regulatory advancements, increased risk management, and concerns for infection and patient privacy breaches. Hospitals require industry representatives to be "credentialed" by verifying vaccination histories, conducting background checks, and requiring HIPAA, OSHA, and other training. This process is complicated further by dispersed stakeholders who use different terminology. Lack of connectivity and integration among all of these stakeholders leads to inefficiencies and increased costs.

In 2018, C4UHC convened representatives from 46 different medical device and pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, interest groups, and vendor credentialing organizations (VCOs) to create national best practices for credentialing. These standards were accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) for credentialing healthcare industry representatives.

Despite establishing national credentialing standards, the biggest challenge is ensuring their adoption. Changes in technology, legislation, and regulation are necessary for meaningful change. Creating bridges, connections, and integration points is crucial to simplifying and streamlining the credentialing process for all parties, including patients and regulatory organizations.

C4UHC aims to simplify and operationalize credentialing to benefit patients, medical device and pharmaceutical representatives, and hospitals. By increasing efficiencies in the vendor credentialing process, C4UHC hopes to decrease healthcare inefficiencies and related spending. It is essential for all parties involved to work together to create a more straightforward and effective credentialing process that benefits patients and lowers costs.

Sharon Gleason Jenkins, EdD
C4UHC.org
sgleason@c4uhc.org