The last time we visited the wonderful world of hospital credentialing for locum tenens assignments, we focused on the ever important ‘documentation of procedures’ or procedure log. As I mentioned in my last blog, paperwork and more paperwork is the norm now when applying for hospital privileges—whether it’s for a permanent position or a locums job. Although not a recent or extraordinary request, I am seeing more and more hospitals require documentation of all physicians’ TB skin test or PPD taken within the past year.

As a physician you probably realize there are a lot of you out there with positive TB tests who have no symptoms. Hospitals realize this and are fine with those results as long as we can provide them with a copy of a chest x-ray as supporting documentation. In most cases copies of your TB test and the chest x-ray are all that are needed. However there are a handful of hospitals that may ask for additional documentation from the physician who performed the TB test, and in extreme cases they may require you to take a TB test during your locum tenens orientation process prior to seeing patients.

So….like the procedure log, it’s a good idea to keep a copy of a recent (within the past year) TB test and a chest x-ray if your result is positive in your locum tenens credentialing file. I’m certain that over the next few years it will be a requirement at every hospital and clinic regardless of location.