Temporary Privileges

Short-term clinical privileges granted by a hospital or facility to a provider before their full credentialing is complete, allowing them to begin seeing patients while the process is finalized.

Temporary privileges allow a provider to start working at a hospital or facility before the full credentialing process is complete. They exist because the credentialing process can take months, and sometimes the facility needs the provider to start immediately. The Joint Commission and CMS allow hospitals to grant temporary privileges in two main situations. The first is to meet an important patient care need. If a hospital recruits a cardiologist and their patients need a cardiologist now, the hospital can grant temporary privileges while full credentialing is underway. The second is for visiting providers who need to care for a specific patient on a one-time or short-term basis. Temporary privileges are not a shortcut around credentialing. The provider must still have their full credentials verified. What happens is a streamlined initial review, usually by the department chair and the medical staff president, to confirm the provider's current license, DEA registration, malpractice insurance, and competency. Then full credentialing continues in the background. Temporary privileges typically last for a defined period, usually 120 days, which should be enough time for the full credentialing process to be completed. If full credentialing is not done within that window, the temporary privileges expire and the provider must stop practicing at the facility. For payer credentialing, temporary privileges at a hospital are separate from enrollment with payers. Having temporary hospital privileges does not mean you can bill insurance. You still need to be credentialed with each payer. However, some payers will use the fact that a hospital granted you temporary privileges as supporting evidence that your credentials are in order. If you are joining a new hospital and need to start quickly, ask about their temporary privileges process. Have all your documents ready to submit because the review happens fast. Medical staff offices can typically process temporary privilege requests in days rather than months.