Medicare & Medicaid Programs: Proposed Changes Affecting Hospital & Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Conditions of Participation (CoPs): Credentialing & Privileging of Telemedicine Physicians & Practitioners 

May 26, 2010 On May 26, 2010, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed a new telemedicine credentialing rule for hospitals that would allow hospitals to rely on medical professional privileging information provided by another hospital. CMS noted in the proposed rule that the change was needed to ease the burden of privileging reviews on smaller critical access hospitals and to address a point of conflict with The Joint Commission (TJC) relating to how TJC had permitted hospitals to grant telemedicine practice privileges to distant-site professionals simply by virtue of both hospitals being accredited by TJC . . .