Optimizing the Treatment of Acute Pain in the Emergency Department.

Physician credentialing is the process of gathering information in regard to a physician’s qualifications for appointment to the medical staff, whereas delineation of clinical privileges denotes those specific services and procedures that a physician is deemed qualified to provide or perform. The specific processes for physician credentialing and delineation of clinical privileges must be defined by medical staff and department bylaws, policy, rules, or regulations. Each member of the medical staff must be subject to periodic review as part of the performance improvement activities of the organization. The American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) believes that: the exercise of clinical privileges in the emergency department (ED) is governed by the rules and regulations of the department; the ED medical director* is responsible for periodic assessment of clinical privileges of emergency physicians; when a physician applies for reappointment to the medical staff and for clinical privileges, including renewal, addition, or rescission of privileges, the reappraisal process must include assessment of current competence by the ED medical director; and the ED medical director will, with the input of department members, determine the means by which each emergency physician will maintain competence and skills and the mechanism by which the proficiency of each physician will be monitored. For the purposes of specialty recognition, an emergency physician is defined as one who is certified (or eligible to be certified) by the American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM) or the American Osteopathic Board of Emergency Medicine (AOBEM), or an equivalent international certifying body recognized by ABEM or AOBEM in emergency medicine or pediatric emergency medicine, or who is eligible for active membership in ACEP. ACEP believes that the ED medical director should be responsible for assessing and making recommendations to the hospital’s credentialing body related to the qualifications of providers of emergency care with respect to the clinical privileges granted to them. At a minimum, those applying for privileges as emergency physicians should be eligible for ACEP membership. Board certification by ABEM or AOBEM, or pediatric emergency