Spreadsheets for Health Care Credentialing: Potential Problems

IN A NUTSHELL:

• Credentialing mostly done either manually or with electronic spreadsheets

• Spreadsheets allow for data input and calculation errors

• Spreadsheets can be extremely time intensive

Written by Ayan Monpara, MD

Health care credentialing is a vital part of any medical facility’s operation and a provider’s career.

While credentialing has always existed in various forms, on a larger scale the methods have not changed in recent times. A majority of workers in the health care sector complete the process either manually or using electronic spreadsheets, the latter of which can create several problems.

For starters, using spreadsheets can be extremely time intensive. All of that time results in lost revenue and a decrease in a facility’s capacity to provide quality patient care.

In general, spreadsheets allow for human errors as well:

• Data input errors

• Calculation errors

• Formatting errors