Credentialing rights at hospitals

Credientialling by health service organisations is a process used to verify the qualifications and experience of medical practitioners to determine their ability to provide safe, high quality health care services within a specific health care setting. Credentialling has the potential to improve safety for patients by ensuring clinicians practice within the bounds of their training and competency, and within the capacity of the service in which they are working.

In certain circumstances, refusal to grant credentialling/admitting rights at hospitals may raise issues under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (formerly the Trade Practices Act 1974). This issue has been the subject of complaints to the ACCC in the past and continues to be so.

The ACCC would be particularly concerned by allegations that groups of competing specialists at certain private hospitals have threatened to boycott the hospitals to prevent other specialists from being credentialled there. Should the Commission find evidence of such conduct it would pursue it vigorously.