What is a MSSP?
An “MSSP” is a medical staff services or provider credentialing professional. MSSPs coordinate the credentialing process and are significantly involved in supporting the accreditation status of their healthcare organization. Throughout the country in hospitals, managed care plans, physician groups, medical societies, and other healthcare facilities, MSSPs are working each day to ensure that only qualified individuals are providing healthcare services. As part of their responsibilities, MSSPs investigate and confirm the credentials, training and backgrounds of physicians and other health providers who apply for privileges to provide care for patients or to participate in managed care plans. MSSPs play a vital role in protecting patient safety and upholding the quality of care. Not only are they responsible for verifying information on credentialing applications, credentialing professionals are integral in developing credentialing and privileging criteria, spearheading quality improvemen
Many companies that provide Internet and networking functions are pulling double duty these days. It’s no longer enough just to provide access; more and more, companies are demanding certain other services along with Internet and network access. Among the services demanded most is security, the specialty of the MSSP. An Internet Service Provider (ISP) will out of necessity provide certain security measures, such as virus protection software, spam blockers, firewalls, and even Virtual Private Networks (VPNs). In this way, an ISP becomes an MSSP, or managed security service provider. The idea is that the responsibility for protecting the Internet and network access lies with the provider, not with the user. Users usually have virus or spam protection of their own, of course, but they routinely demand such basic services from the MSSP. One interesting twist on this idea is that some companies that previously offered only security services have now begun to offer ISP services as well. In o
