Page 7 - HA Convention 2016 [Abstracts (Day 1)]

Symposiums HOSPITAL AUTHORITY CONVENTION 2016

S2.1 Credentialing 14:30 Convention Hall C

Development of Credentialing Tuesday, 3 May
O’Sullivan D
Metro North Hospital and Health Service, Brisbane, Australia

Ensuring patient safety and high standard of care has always been, and remains, a valid professional concern of doctors.
Many of us recited a version of the Hippocratic Oath as we embarked on our medical careers. The undertaking to “utterly
reject harm and mischief”, often translated as “Primum non nocere”, forms a part of that oath. An essential, often intuitively
understood, element of fulfilling this commitment is ensuring that our colleagues possess the qualifications, skills and training
that are necessary for the safety of our patients and, with the elapse of time, continue to maintain these skills.

As medicine has become more complex, dependent for its delivery on multidisciplinary teams and amazing technical
gadgets, and the hospitals more bureaucratic, it is increasingly difficult to fulfill this professional responsibility without
formalised processes. These processes form a critical element of a hospital’s governance structures of safety and quality.
Clinical governance, as these structures have become known, emerged as a concept in the National Health Service in the late
1990s. Queensland leads the formalisation process in Australia by introducing a policy on checking credentials and approving
clinical privileges in August 1993. A national Standard was promulgated in 2004 and the Australian Council of Healthcare
Standards (ACHS) EQuiP4 included a specific standard on credentialing and scope of clinical practice in 2007. The number
of recommendations relating to credentialing and scope of clinical practice standard during the round was significant with
13 AC60 recommendations related (n=153). This standard remained identified as an “area requiring further improvement”
by ACHS in its most recently published report on accreditation performance (2011-2012) and remains a focus of continuous
improvement within Australia with many jurisdictions publishing regular updates of policy and procedure frameworks.

With increasing complexity in our hospitals, we require development of formalised processes to maintain our clinical
qualifications, skills and experience so as to fulfill our professional responsibility with regard to patient safety and standard of
care.

S2.2 Credentialing 14:30 Convention Hall C

Credentialing Development in Hospital Authority
LEE TL
Hong Kong Children’s Hospital, Hong Kong

Modern healthcare is increasingly complex and technology-laden. Many of the latest interventions demand sophisticated
skills and competence. Credentialing and defining scope of practice are valuable tools to assure quality and patient safety.
There is an increasing need for the HA to develop a formal and structured credentialing system to assure that healthcare
professionals have the right skills, qualifications and experience with the appropriate hospital support for the clinical services
they provide.

Credentialing is an emerging concept in HA and HK, requiring extensive consultation and engagement of various
stakeholders. As the major healthcare service provider, the HA’s direction on credentialing will have significant responsibilities
on the standard and practices for the medical profession and health partners, including private practices and the professional
bodies. It is also necessary for HA to strike a balance between promoting professional standard and maintaining flexibility in
manpower deployment.

In the past few years, there had been much preparatory works in communication and strengthening partnership with
key stakeholders before HA can align the common credentialing framework, governance structure and implementation
mechanism. Credentialing involves both practice and cultural changes in hospitals and clinical professionals. The HA has
taken a gradual and prudent approach in starting its journey to credentialing development, but there is still some way to go.

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