CREDENTIALING, PRIVILEGING, AND COMPETENCY ASSESSMENT

To support the use of post-licensure credentialing, privileging, and competency assessment to practice pharmacy as a direct patient-care practitioner; further,

To advocate that all post-licensure pharmacy credentialing programs meet the guiding principles established by the Council on Credentialing in Pharmacy; further,

To recognize that pharmacists are responsible for maintaining competency to practice in direct patient care.

Rationale

Pharmacists engaged in direct patient care should possess the education, training, and experience necessary to function effectively, efficiently, and responsibly in that role. As their role in direct patient care has increased, pharmacists have recognized that they are independently responsible for maintaining their credentials and competencies. Currently, no specific objective measures are available for determining competence to provide direct patient care, however. Until such measures are available, pharmacists can establish their competence through post-licensure education, training, and certification, and health care organizations can ensure that practitioners with the right skills are matched to the scope of practice expected through competency assessment and their credentialing and privileging processes.

Although many avenues of credentialing and competency assessment currently exist, hospital and health-system credentialing and privileging of pharmacists is a relatively recent phenomenon. ASHP and the Council on Credentialing in Pharmacy (CCP) are in agreement that pharmacists should be expected to participate in credentialing and privileging processes to ensure they have attained and maintain competency to provide the scope of services and quality of care that are required in their practices (Council on Credentialing in Pharmacy Guiding Principles for Post-Licensure Credentialing of Pharmacists, February 2011.) To ensure the quality of post-licensure credentialing programs, they should be required to adhere to the guiding principles developed by CCP.

Note that several definitions are integral to proper understanding of this policy (definitions taken from the Council on Credentialing in Pharmacy, Credentialing in Pharmacy: A Resource Paper, except as noted):

Credential: documented evidence of professional qualifications.

Credentialing: (1) the process of granting a credential, and (2) the process by which an organization obtains, verifies, and accesses and individual’s qualifications to provide patient care services.

Privileging: the process by which an oversight body of a health care organization or other appropriate provider body, having reviewed an individual health care provider’s credentials and performance and found them satisfactory, authorizes that individual to perform a specific scope of patient care services within that setting.

Competence: The ability of the individual to perform his/her duties accurately, make correct judgments, and interact appropriately with patients and colleagues.

Competency: A distinct knowledge, skill, attitude, or value that is essential to the practice of a profession.

Direct patient care: involves the pharmacist’s direct observation of the patient and his or her (i.e., the pharmacist’s) contributions to the selection, modification, and monitoring of patient-specific drug therapy. This is often accomplished within an interprofessional team or through collaborative practice with another health care provider.