NPDB Waives Query Fees From March Through May 2020

To assist hospitals in credentialing physicians during the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Practitioner Data Bank ("NDPB")—the federal clearinghouse for adverse action reports against physicians—has announced it is waiving query fees.  This waiver is retroactive to March 1 and goes through May 31, 2020.

The goal of this waiver is to expedite informed decision-making during pandemic about licensing, hiring, and credentialing, according to David Loewenstein, Director, Division of Practitioner Data Bank Bureau of Health Workforce, at the U.S. Health Resources & Services Administration.  The NPDB is service of HRSA.

Under federal law, hospitals must query the NPDB when an individual applies for staff appointment or clinical privileges and again every 2 years when medical staff members seek to renew those privileges.  Hospitals must also report any time a physician undergoes a restriction in clinical privileges lasting more than 30 days, or when a physician resigns