Periodic physician recredentialing.

The quality of health care services is a major concern of consumers and commands attention in the national health policy debate. The government and business emphasize quality medical care for its immediate relevance to cost containment. Federal legislation has been introduced requiring physician recertification, 19 of 23 specialty boards are requiring periodic recertification, and it has been proposed that reimbursement for physician services be contingent on compliance with standards of medical care. In the past 3 years, planning has been in progress in New York State to implement periodic physician recredentialing for medical relicensure. The current plan emphasizes peer review of guidelines developed by specialty societies and proposes educational enhancement, not loss of license, if a need to correct deficiencies is identified.