§16-1A-1 Legislative findings; purpose. - West Virginia Statutes

§16-1A-1. Legislative findings; purpose.
(a) The Legislature finds:

(1) Credentialing, required by hospitals, insurance companies, prepaid health plans, third party administrators and other health care entities, is necessary to assess and verify the education, training and experience of health care practitioners to ensure that qualified professionals treat the citizens of this state.

(2) Currently, a credentialing application form has been created to reduce duplication and increase efficiency. Each health care entity performs primary source verification for the practitioners who apply to that entity for affiliation. This duplication of primary source verification is time consuming and costly.

(3) The Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources and the Insurance Commissioner share regulatory authority over the entities requiring credentialing.

(b) The purpose of this article is to continue the advisory committee to assist in developing a uniform credentialing process and to develop legislation regarding the use of uniform credentialing through one or more credentialing verification organizations in this state.