Background

MPLT Healthcare began servicing this particular client shortly after they took over the hospitalist programs for six facilities throughout the state of Florida. The client needed immediate locums coverage in order to meet the staffing demands for the new programs. They were responsible for covering 118 hospitalist and behavioral health shifts per month, while working with six different Medical Directors and the 10 individual Medical Staff Office contacts working on hospital privileging throughout the six facilities. The client had never used a locum tenens company before, but due to the urgency, the volume of shifts, and their lack of immediate resources, they made the decision to partner with MPLT Healthcare.

The Problem

Since the client had never worked with a locums company in the past, they were not familiar with some of the best practices for communication between the Medical Directors that were confirming the locums providers and the client designee, their Credentialing and Billing Specialist. This Specialist was responsible for notifying the Medical Staff Office contacts in each of the facilities that new providers would be starting so they could commence the privileging process. Unfortunately, the Specialist was not aware of who the Medical Directors were confirming, whether or not they were going to be credentialed at just one facility or cross credentialed at multiple facilities, or even the providers’ individual start dates. The Medical Staff Offices were becoming very confused and frustrated when they started receiving prefilled hospital privileging applications from MPLT Healthcare for providers that they did not even know were coming to their facility.

As the pool of locums providers grew, the client’s Credentialing and Billing Specialist was being inundated with emails from 10 different Medical Staff Office contacts regarding the status of the 23 different locums providers being credentialed. This individual was having a very difficult time keeping on top of all of the providers that were in process and was finding it difficult to communicate back to the Medical Directors with any level of confidence that the providers would be credentialed in time to meet their anticipated start dates.

This situation was far from where it needed to be in order to adequately staff the positions and get resources in place in a timely manner. That was when MPLT Healthcare stepped in with a customized solution to streamline communication and improve efficiencies.

The Solution

Our first step was to customize a Request for Locums Credentialing Form that the client’s Credentialing and Billing Specialist could utilize with every provider that their Medical Directors had confirmed for locums coverage. The form included the provider’s name, facilities that they would be covering, the name of the Medical Director that confirmed the provider, and the anticipated start date.

Next, we created a custom tracking tool that outlined the current credentialing status of every provider that had been confirmed for coverage. The tool was broken down by facility and listed the date that all credentialing and provider enrollment documents had been requested, sent and completed. It was an at-a-glance repository of everything that the Credentialing and Billing Specialist needed to know in order to be able to respond to the Medical Directors knowledgeably regarding the status of each provider.

MPLT Healthcare also set up a weekly call to review the tracking tool and the status of each file with the client’s Credentialing and Billing Specialist, the MPLT Healthcare Credentialing Supervisor, and the MPLT Credentialing Specialists that were working with the individual Medical Staff Office contacts within each of the six facilities. This greatly improved communication and sped up the entire process while taking much of the burden off the client’s Credentialing and Billing Specialist.

The Result

While implementing the improvements outlined above, we continued to source excellent providers for the client’s locum coverage needs. MPLT Healthcare provided the client with 23 fully credentialed providers that covered all of their open shifts for both the hospitalist and behavioral health programs without any delays in obtaining facility privileges. The client was so pleased with our service and consultative approach that they went on to become one of our larger clients that year.

By customizing a solution for their Medical Directors, their Credentialing and Billing Specialist and the Medical Staff Offices they supported, we were able to provide transparency into the scheduling and credentialing process. This allowed us to cover all of the client’s open shifts in a timely manner, while saving everyone time and minimizing frustrations.

We were able to support their locums needs continuously until such time as they were able to hire their own providers to support the program. Seven of the locums providers that we supplied ended up transitioning to full-time employees, allowing us to become part of their permanent solution and testifying to the caliber of physician that MPLT Healthcare provides. The client has told us repeatedly that they consider us a true business partner that exceeded all of their expectations.

Client Testimonial

“I’m writing this to compliment the services provided to our organization by MPLT Healthcare at multiple facility locations. The communication and customer service was seamless and pleasant, with full transparency at all times. They were able to provide us with staff in a timely manner to cover substantial gaps in our schedule, which would have gone uncovered and would have ultimately ended up in our patients being diverted to competing facilities. They provided us with a consultative partner approach regarding scheduling, credentialing and communication to assure that we were able to provide our contracted services to multiple sites in our network. I recall at least one occasion when we reached out to MPLT for a Psychiatrist on a Tuesday that we needed for emergency coverage that Friday. MPLT was able to identify, credential and have the provider onsite to assist with the coverage needed. Within a 30-45 day time frame, my contact at MPLT was able to take over the schedule and assure coverage when and where it was needed, providing us with quality providers, several of which went on to become permanent employees. I highly recommend MPLT Healthcare to anyone in need of a true staffing partner!”