2005 West Virginia Code - §16-1A-1. — Legislative findings; purpose.

§16-1A-1. Legislative findings; purpose.
(a) The Legislature finds:
(1) Credentialing, required by hospitals, insurance companies, prepaid health plans, third party administrators and other health care entities, is necessary to assess and verify the education, training, experience and competence of health care practitioners to ensure that qualified professionals treat the citizens of this state.
(2) Currently, each of the entities requiring credentialing has its own credentialing application forms resulting in health care practitioners being required to complete multiple forms listing the same or similar information. The duplication is costly, time consuming and not in the best interests of the citizens of this state.
(3) The secretary of the department of health and human resources and the insurance commissioner share regulatory authority over the entities requiring credentialing.
(b) The purpose of this article is to authorize the development of uniform credentialing application forms by those public officials regulating the entities that require credentialing and to establish an advisory committee to assist in developing a uniform credentialing process and implementing the use of uniform credentialing in this state.