2. NAMSS Updates 2019 Susan R. Diaz, CPMSM, CPCS 2019 NAMSS President
Good Afternoon and thank you for allowing me some time on the NCF agenda to provide you with a brief overview of 2019 NAMSS activity.

3. NAMSS Accomplishments 2018
9,836 Education Moments
NAMSS Educational Conference and Exposition
State Leadership Conference
Education Summit
Live Webinars/online courses
5,000+ Synergy readers
4,400+ NAMSS-certified MSPs (CPCS, CPMSM)
5th Annual Industry Roundtable on Digital Credentialing
40th Anniversary of Incorporation
6,100+ members
First CVO Excellence Symposium (sold out)
NAMSS continues to work hard to support our members and serve as the voice of the industry. We had another incredibly busy and successful year, which included the highlights noted here.

4. NAMSS in 2019 & Beyond Government Relations activities NAMSS Pass
The future of healthcare and MSPs
43rd Educational Conference & Exhibition
2nd Annual CVO Excellence Symposium
Education and Leadership Development
I would like to take this opportunity to provide you with a focused overview of what is in store for 2019 with particular emphasis on activity housed within Government Relations.

5. NAMSS Government Relations
Industry Roundtable
Explored the future of digital credentialing technology
2019 – The future of healthcare and role of MSPs
Update the Ideal Credentialing Standards
Essential credentialing elements Data Dictionary
In 2019:
Maintenance of Certification
ABMS and other Board Standards
Government Relations efforts continue to be a focus for the NAMSS Board of Directors. We recently appointed Susan DuBois to replace Linda Waldorf as the Government and Industry Relations Liaison.
Through thoughtful and engaging discussion, the 2018 GR Roundtables explored the future of digital credentialing technology. The 2018 roundtable marked the beginning of a new conversation around disruptive technology, its impact on credentialing and the potential impacts to Medical Services Professionals, which is a nice tie in to the ongoing work of the future of the profession. NAMSS appreciates the relationship we have with industry partners and stakeholders, including many of you, and will continue to work with the roundtable participants and industry stakeholders to create and implement process guidelines, governance, and best practices that will be needed as technology continues to develop.
A sub group of GR has also been established to review and update the Ideal Credentialing Standards, a best practice document which was first released in The work group has identified a handful of necessary and meaningful revisions and is continuing to discuss larger-scale issues that may warrant consideration, and will continue to examine updated issues and element to add such as social media, credit checks, identity proofing, drug screenings, and more- for their relevance to the Ideal Credentialing Standards. We expect to see an update to the ICS in 2019.
The GR team is also finalizing the credentialing data dictionary, which will be presented as an additional set of best practices regarding the data elements to be collected during the credentialing process. That will soon be made publicly available on the NAMSS website. As you may be aware, this was a project that was completed as a result of discussion at NCF a few years and is a great example of all of us working together to help the entire profession.
The NAMSS GR team continues to monitor developments with Maintenance of Certification. In October 2018, Diane Meldi, NAMSS Past President, was appointed to serve as the Credentialing Community Representative on the ABMS Stakeholder Council. The Stakeholder Council is a new advisory body to the ABMS Board of Directors. The Council was founded to ensure that the ABMS Board makes decisions that are grounded in an understanding of the perspectives, concerns, and interests of the multiple constituents and stakeholders impacted by the work of ABMS. They will be responsible for reviewing strategic initiatives, policies, certification program reviews, and pilot-program reports, and providing written recommendations to the ABMS Board. The members include 10 physicians from different ABMS Specialties, 2 at-large ABMS Board members, 5 ABMS Associate members, 6 public members, and one credentialing representative (Diane).
The GR team will also be working on reviewing and analyzing the 24 member board of the ABMS; they’ll review the accreditation policies, educational and testing requirements of the boards and develop a comparison document which can be expanded to include additional boards. This resource can work toward assisting with recommending or advising against accepting certain boards during the credentialing process as physicians continue to search for alternatives to ABMS boards, especially as the debate around MOC continues.

6. Credentialing by Proxy Guidebook
Joint Work Group with American Telemedicine Association (ATA)
Will be released in 2019
Includes:
Glossary of Terms
The Existing Credentialing Process
Current Laws & Regulations
Setting Up a Credentialing by Proxy Program
Overcoming Hurdles
We are pleased with the efforts and progress with our relationship and work with the American Telemedicine Association. The relationship between NAMSS and the ATA has resulted in a collaborative project that launched into development in 2018 and is in the final stages, The Credentialing by Proxy Guidebook.

7. Recognizing lost opportunities….
NAMSS Government Relations and American Telemedicine Association (ATA)
Developed and presented proposal to the NAMSS Board to approve a new workgroup to focus on this issue
NAMSS Board Approved
Work Group established
With the continued development and expansion of telemedicine, a large percentage of credentialing continues to be conducted through the traditional “primary source verification.”
The creation of a joint workgroup would act as a partnership between NAMSS and ATA to begin discussions on development of a CBP program between the two associations.
Upon approval by the NAMSS Board, members of NAMSS and ATA worked to develop a roster of subject matter experts on CBP to form the functioning workgroup, with both NAMSS and ATA members participating.

8. Workgroup Duties Develop a framework around content for a CBP Guide
Guide could serve as an educational tool
Baseline for launching other CBP related efforts
Over the course of 2018, the workgroup assembled into sub groups to develop the framework for the content with the purpose of this to be used as an educational tool and best practice set for individuals currently and new to Credentialing By Proxy practices.

9. Content Matters…
Standard definition of CBP
Standard definitions of terminology used in CBP
Summary of existing telemedicine credentialing processing issues that could be addressed through CBP
Outline steps to develop, launch and maintain a CBP process
Lessons learned from established programs
A standard definition of CBP. This would make sure that everyone involved is on the same page
Terminology Around the CBP process: would provide a consistent language and basic understanding for users
A review of the existing credentialing with regards to telemedicine. i.e, identifying existing complications, costs and inefficiencies
Also provide a guideline to the context around a CBP program, including current rules and regulations, potential case studies, and any identified hurdles and/or issues that have arisen in the past or may arise in the future.
A review of CBP programs. This would outline what steps would be involved in developing, launching, and maintaining a CBP program for hospitals, including adaptable language for individual users. This would also provide a guideline to the context around a CBP program, including current rules and regulations, potential case studies, and any identified hurdles and/or issues that have arisen in the past or may arise in the future.
Ideally, this will address CBP programs that have already been developed and hopefully take into account lessons learned and pitfalls to avoid.
We are extremely proud of this collaboration and will be releasing the final product very soon.

10. PASS is an essential tool to ensure patient safety. Top 5 Reasons:
Reduce Risk of Negligent Credentialing
Quickly Establish Good Standing
Increased Efficiency
No Charge
NAMSS PASS continues to be a focus for the board of directors. NAMSS PASS™ is a secure, online database that provides quick, easy, and inexpensive access to the affiliation history of the practitioners you credential and is the first and only universal resource for tracking practitioner affiliation history.

11. Over 500 facilities and continued steady growth
Over 300,000 practitioners and nearly 700,000 affiliations! 
NAMSS PASS continues to gain support as more and more facilities are recognizing the benefits of building a comprehensive, centralized, primary source database. Currently, there are over 500 participating PASS facilities, 300,000 practitioners represented and over 700,000 affiliations in the database.
NAMSS is increasing outreach to stakeholders to expand the purview of NAMSS PASS. Per a recent resolution passed by the AMA-OMSS, NAMSS will work with AMA to develop NAMSS PASS as a repository for essential affiliation information from closed hospitals, a growing issue in the healthcare industry as consolidation results in higher numbers of hospitals closing or being absorbed into larger health systems. Additionally, NAMSS while continues to explore and build our partnership with the Americana Telemedicine Association (ATA) and National Association of Locum Tenens Organizations (NALTO) it is our intent to offer NAMSS PASS as a mutually beneficial solution to include a much larger reach of affiliation histories from these industry related organizations.
We look forward to the work of the NAMSS PASS Task Force that will be led by Amy Wade and Susan DuBois as a joint effort.

12. 2019 NAMSS Education Summit
CPCS Certification Preparation Course
CPMSM Certification Preparation Course
Credentialing 101
Leadership Certificate Program Workshop
Workshop attendance requires completion of online modules
NAMSS is proud to continue to be the go to resource for MSP education and Professional Development.
Registration is officially open for the NAMSS Education Summit. I hope you will help us in sharing the word about this year’s Educational Summit, taking place March 7-9 in Orlando. Course offerings will include the CPCS and CPMSM Exam Preparation Workshops, Credentialing 101, Ready to Lead and will feature the Leadership Certificate Program in-person, three-day course.

13. I’m also very excited to announce that we’ve already chosen the theme for the 43nd Annual Conference, which is taking place October 19 through October 23 in Philadelphia, PA. The theme, Going the Distance: The Future of Our Profession, reflects NAMSS’ commitment to being in front of the changes that are facing MSPs and always keeping patient safety in mind. There are a few enhancements planned for this year’s event including a Provider Enrollment Track.
Registration for will open in May, 2019.
We will once again host a virtual conference that runs concurrently with the live meeting. Select sessions will be broadcast in real-time with the events occurring in Philadelphia, PA.

14. NAMSS was very proud to host our inaugural CVO Excellence Symposium in It was a hugh success based on the event selling out and the feedback received from the attendees. We are very excited to announce that we will be continuing to offer this Symposium in 2019!
The CVO Symposium will take place prior, as a Pre Conference session to the Annual Conference in Philadelphia. Visit the NAMSS website for more information, and be sure to mark your calendars now.
The deadline to submit an abstract for this event is Monday, February 18…

15. Need more info? Email sdiaz1229@gmail.com
Thank you!
Need more info?
On behalf of the NAMSS Board I truly wish to thank you again for your time and support of NAMSS and our profession. We appreciate the invitation to participate with NCF.