Q&A: Should I "google" medical staff applicants to find additional information about them?
A: Entering the applicant's name into a search engine such as Google (www.Google.com) can yield surprising results. Occasionally, physicians find themselves in the media spotlight for myriad reasons-from situations in their personal lives to work-related incidents, such as the results of a civil or criminal litigation.
Although information discovered on the Internet may not be conclusive, the revelations from these searches should be treated as red flags on which credentialing professionals must follow-up when evaluating medical staff applications.
Editor's note: Questions and topic suggestions can be e-mailed to CVU at mcoler@hcpro.com. We'll find an expert or resource to tackle the credentialing or verification issues that are challenging you.
