Credentials Review and Privileging

Department of the Navy
Bureau of Medicine and Surgery

The Navy’s credentials review and privileging program is multi-institutional. This permits health care practitioners with privileges at their regular duty station to practice those privileges independently anywhere within the Navy health care system, ashore and afloat.

Privilege Request Process

When you report to your first duty station, you must complete an application for privileges including a professional history questionnaire. Documents you would ordinarily have to provide, such as certificates and diplomas, will have been gathered from your recruiter and sent to your first duty station ahead of time. It is wise to hand-carry copies of these credentials to your first duty station in case the recruiter package is not forwarded. This process should be brief and include, aside from filling out a few forms, a discussion with your department head (chairperson) and a review of the bylaws, rules, and regulations.

There are two kinds of privileges: "core" and "supplemental". Core privileges represent a set list of predetermined procedures, diseases, and injury types that you would likely have gained an understanding of and proficiency in during medical school and internship. "Supplemental" privileges, encompasses areas that you may be trained in and might want to do but are not on the "core" list. Since supplemental privileges are hospital-specific (based on equipment, staff, and provider competency), they may not be granted.

Your first medical staff appointment is the "initial" medical staff appointment, and is good for up to 1 year. The initial appointment period exists to allow the medical staff and administration to observe your skills before granting an "active staff appointment" good for 2 years. The rest of the credentials program is quite similar to those in civilian institutions in that your medical records and care will be routinely reviewed through the quality management program and the results will be used to decide future renewal of privileges.

The Navy requires you to possess a current, valid, unrestricted license to practice before granting a medical staff appointment with privileges. The license may be from any state, the District of Columbia, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, or the U.S. Virgin Islands. If you are going directly to a ship, squadron, or school for submarine or aviation duty, you are exempt from this requirement for 1 year (but only 1 year) following completion of your internship. During the operational exempt period you may hold a medical staff appointment and be granted privileges. Without a license or operational exemption, you must practice under the supervision of a medical staff member who does have privileges.

During the recruiting process, a query will have been made to the National Practitioner Data Bank. The data bank is intended to be a repository of information about final actions on malpractice claims, adverse privilege actions, and adverse licensure actions. A copy of the query will be placed in your credentials file, which you may look at in the credentials office. A copy of any adverse information is supposed to be sent to you 30 days before anyone else can access the information. The data bank opened on 1 September 1990 and no retroactive reporting to the data bank was permitted.