Improving hospital surge capacity: a new concept for emergency credentialing of volunteers

In the event of a large-scale terrorist attack, natural disaster, or other public health emergency, hospitals could not absorb the thousands of victims generated by the catastrophe. Even if hospitals can increase bed capacity by 20% to 30%, as some suggest, the problem of staffing these beds remains unresolved. One possibility is to rapidly increase hospital staff by providing emergency credentialing to volunteer health care professionals. Several organizations and systems currently exist that can deliver medical providers to a stricken area. Unfortunately, all of these have serious limitations that would make it difficult for hospitals to use the health care workers provided by such entities. We propose a unique concept that will allow hospitals to rapidly expand their staff with practitioners that meet their credentialing requirements. The concept is a database created by each hospital in a community that includes credentialed physicians, nurses, behavioral health professionals, and ancillary staff. The database will be limited to physicians with full privileges and all licensed hospital employees in good standing not currently facing disciplinary issues or practice restrictions. The individual databases would then be combined and stored on a single computer system housed at the county health care agency or other mutually acceptable organization, with copies sent back to participating hospitals and the state. After a large disaster, health care workers from unaffected areas, including other states, can approach affected hospitals and volunteer their services. Practitioners listed on the database could be given privileges in their specialties for 72 hours. This process is accurate, inexpensive, efficient, sustainable, and Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations compliant and permits the immediate credentialing of large numbers of medical volunteers.