FSMB receives NCQA certification for second time

The Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) announced that it has recently been certified for a second time by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). The FSMB, which received its initial NCQA Certification in 2012, is certified under NCQA's Credentials Verification Organization Certification Program for the following credentials elements: Education and Training, Ongoing Monitoring of Sanctions, Medicare/Medicaid Sanctions, and Medical Board Sanctions.

CVO Certification includes rigorous on-site evaluations conducted by a team of health care professionals and certified credentialing specialists. A national oversight committee of physicians analyzes the team's finding and determines certification based on the CVO's compliance with NCQA standards.

"The FSMB is very pleased to again receive this prestigious certification from the NCQA," said Humayun Chaudhry, DO, President and CEO of the FSMB. "This certification represents FSMB's commitment to improving quality by promoting high standards of performance to greater meet the changing health care needs in service to our member boards in their protection of the public."

"Achieving CVO Certification from NCQA demonstrates that the Federation of State Medical Boards has the systems, process and personnel in place to thoroughly and accurately verify providers' credentials and help health plan clients meet their accreditation goals," said Margaret E. O'Kane, President of NCQA.

The Federation Credentials Verification Service (FCVS) provides physicians and physician assistants with a lifetime portfolio of primary-source verified credentials. The service is accepted by nearly all state medical boards and has been used by more than 185,000 physicians and physician assistants.

The FSMB Physician Data Center is a central repository of data from every state medical board in the United States that includes comprehensive licensure, disciplinary and educational information on the nearly 880,000 actively licensed physicians in the United States. The Physician Data Center offers two services used in performing credentialing functions or pre-employment background checks: the Board Action Data Search and the Disciplinary Alert Service.