December 15, 2009
Board certification means YKHC has best providers
All of the physicians on staff at YKHC and all of the specialists that treat patients at the hospital are now board certified. The Physician Assistants and Nurse Practitioners were already required to be board certified.
What this means for YKHC is that that all physicians must have completed an accredited residency program in one of the 24 recognized American Board of Medical Specialties, be in good standing with the board and complete an exam.
There are also ongoing requirements for education and repeat board certification (usually every 7-10 years). Providers are given four years to attain board certification after they are employed at YKHC.
YKHC adopted a policy a year ago that all physicians would be board certified. Clinical Director Ellen Hodges says the hospital administration has been updating all the credentials files as they come due.
"Most of our providers were already board certified and the only ones who are not currently board certified are recent graduates who have not completed all the requirements but are actively working on it," Hodges said.
YKHC is the only bush site to require board certification. This is a measure of the quality of medical providers the corporation employs.
"It allows the medical staff credentialling office to have another objective measure of the quality of the providers that we employ," Hodges said. "And it helps weed out the providers who have not achieved academic excellence in training."
All physicians have to have four years of undergraduate education, four years of medical school and an additional 3-7 years of residency training beyond that.
Board certification is a further standard of excellence that encompasses both clinical knowledge and dedication to the board's specialty. The requirements for continuing education, for example, are much higher than just for state licensure.
