Faculty credentialing: a survey of forty-six U.S. dental schools

This study was undertaken in June of 2005 to evaluate the status of credentialing of clinical faculty in United States dental schools. A short survey on the process of credentialing was developed and emailed or mailed to all clinical deans. The survey contained a standard definition of health professional credentialing to which the respondent was to compare his or her school's procedures. Of the forty-six respondents, only 46 percent were conducting credentialing as defined on the survey. Recredentialing of clinical faculty was occurring in most of these schools; however, 23 percent did not report a process of recredentialing. Each institution required different items in its credentialing application: 95 percent required information on licensure; 86 percent, educational background; 67 percent, academic appointments; and 67 percent, specialty board status, among other items that were included at lower rates. Health status was only requested by 29 percent of the institutions. Only 34 percent of those institutions doing credentialing verified the data collected during the application process. Given the legal implications of adverse outcomes, prudent risk management calls for a strong credentialing program. Results of this survey indicate the need for an ongoing effort to standardize credentialing procedures among dental schools and to select appropriate data to be included in the process.