This is not to say that progress will be easy. The participants, who are now meeting on a regular basis, are joined by a common sense of purpose. We're all committed, to ensuring that credentialing will remain a credible process that will be understood and used by the payer community and the quality assurance leadership in hospitals and health systems. Among the potential pitfalls, in Manasse's opinion, is the risk of fragmentation. In addition, an abundance of programs would be not only confusing but also impossible to support financially.
Issues regarding the appropriate role of licensing boards also remain to be tackled.
A Pharmacy Administrator's View Despite the complexity of these questions, a majority of health-system pharmacists might agree with Lois M. Nash, M.S., pharmacy director at The Methodist Hospital in Houston. A certificate, in and of itself, is not enough. As an administrator, Nash underscores the need for profession-wide standardization. We need something that crosses boundaries. A second challenge is developing appropriate means of evaluating the competency of pharmacists who are seeking credentialing.