Healthcareseeker.com seeks to streamline credentialing

HEALTHCAREseeker.com, which provides nurse and allied staffing services to more than 700 hospitals in the United States, announced the launch of a new sister company called Credential Agent.

Credential Agent is software that will allow hospitals and other healthcare organizations to easily store, manage and retrieve employee credentials and other human resource documents.

“Credential Agent was developed because of our experience in going through Joint Commission (JCAHO) audits for HEALTHCAREseeker.com as well as our experience in credential/document management for our medical professionals,” says HEALTHCAREseeker.com and Credential Agent President Stephen Halasnik. “We often have to store as many as 20 to 30 documents per employee that include credentials, background checks, immunizations and other documents. A number of years ago, during a Joint Commission audit, the JCAHO auditors commented on our extremely strong skills in maintaining up to date credentials and documents. They felt that HEALTHCAREseeker.com was one of the best companies they had audited and wanted to know how we were able to keep documents well maintained and organized. When we looked closer at why they felt this way, we determined that it was because we had decided to store our documents electronically.

“We then began to visit our client hospitals to see how they were storing/managing employee credentials and HR documentation,” Halasnik says. “What we found was the hospital’s process was often outdated and burdensome. It involved using multiple Excel worksheets, with hard copy documents stored in file cabinets and with multiple departments being involved. It was expected that medical professionals kept their own credentials up to date and schedule their own classes for credential renewals.”

Credential Agent automatically sends out email notifications to employees well in advance of credential expiration dates; allows for all documentation to be stored electronically thus eliminating document storage costs, and allows all documents to be easily found under the employee name so that many departments can act cohesively, according to the company.