June 3, 2025
In the fast-paced world of healthcare, ensuring that every professional is fully qualified and appropriately credentialed is paramount. It’s not just about compliance; it’s about patient safety, quality care, and building a trustworthy workforce.
“Exploring Primary Source Verification Experiences With Colorado Hospital and Healthcare Employers” is a new discovery report developed by the ColoradoFWD Employer Engagement team. ColoradoFWD is a pilot demonstration testing new ways to use digital learning and employment records and skills-first talent management practices to fill job openings in behavioral health and direct care.
In healthcare, primary source verification involves a wide range of verification activities aimed at confirming an individual's identity and confirming the legitimacy of an individual's skills and professional experiences, as well as their education, certifications, and licenses.
The report sheds light on the time, cost, and complexity of the current primary source verification process. It lays out key considerations for how a state or sector-based verifiable credentialing system can better meet the needs of both employers and workers while streamlining existing processes and saving employers time and money.
The report was developed following a series of interviews, focus groups, and convenings of professionals working in hospitals and healthcare in an effort to understand the real-world challenges that might be addressed by skills-based approaches to hiring and upskilling combined with the use of digital learning and employment records (LERs).
The Current State of Primary Source Verification in Healthcare
The report found that healthcare employers face several ongoing challenges with the current primary source verification process:
- The Manual Burden: A resounding theme from employers is the highly manual and often duplicative nature of current primary source verification processes. From paper files to juggling multiple electronic systems, HR teams are spending valuable time on repetitive tasks, leading to data errors and a lack of trust in existing information.
- The Verification Maze: Verifying credentials isn't a one-stop shop. Employers navigate a complex web of state licensing boards, educational institutions, certification bodies, and even out-of-state systems. Challenges are particularly acute for out-of-state, multi-state, and international credentials. Additional challenges arise when an issuing institution has closed.
- Costly Delays: The current primary source verification process can prove to be expensive. Estimates show it can take one to four weeks and cost $45-$225 per individual for verification. These delays are not only costly but can also mean job vacancies remain open longer, increasing operational costs for employers and potentially leading to lost income and delayed career opportunities for candidates.
- Compliance and Confidence are Key: Despite the challenges, employers are steadfast in their need for systems that ensure compliance with regulatory bodies like Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and The Joint Commission. In addition to a desire for systems that maintain regulatory compliance, many employers expressed a desire for streamlined structures, transparency, and reliability to maintain confidence in verified credentials and data integrity in order to protect patient safety.
- The Emerging Credential Conundrum: As healthcare evolves, so do the skills and credentials required to provide quality care. The report highlights emerging opportunities with "new and emerging credentials" like the Qualified Behavioral Health Assistants (QBHA) microcredential pathways, and the challenges employers can experience in verifying these opportunities, especially when these skills are gained through work-based training and don't fit neatly into existing skill development or validation pathways.
Key Takeaways: Verifiable Credentialing Systems Can Pave a Path Forward
So, what are the actionable insights for moving forward? The report offers clear takeaways for designing a primary source verification solution that:
- Serve Everyone: Any new system must cater to the diverse needs of Colorado's healthcare landscape, from small, rural clinics with lean HR teams to large hospital systems with specialized departments. It needs to support primary source verification across the entire employee lifecycle: hiring, ongoing staff management, and career advancement.
- Build Trust & Transparency: A future system must instill confidence through clear structure, robust security, and reliable outcomes. Improving data integrity is paramount to avoid the need for re-validation and verification and to streamline reporting.
- Seamless Integration is Non-Negotiable: The "wish list" is clear: employers want a system that integrates seamlessly with their existing HR Information Systems (HRIS), Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS), and background check vendors. This will reduce manual entry, prevent data silos, and improve efficiency.
- Accessibility and Efficiency: Streamlined state-based systems, easier access, and efficient notification systems for renewals are crucial. The goal is to make primary source verification quicker and more accessible without compromising on quality or compliance.
- Championing Skills-Based Advancement: By addressing the primary source verification barrier, a new system can be a catalyst for wider adoption of skills-based hiring and advancement strategies, ensuring that valuable skills, regardless of how they were acquired, are recognized and utilized effectively.
Looking Ahead: Designing a Verifiable Credential System for Colorado
The ColoradoFWD Discovery Report isn't just a document; it's a call to action. By understanding the intricate challenges of Primary Source Verification, we can collaboratively design and implement innovative solutions that improve the experiences of employers and workers. At a time where there is growing interest in the use of digital verifiable credentials to help individuals aggregate a record of their skills, a thoughtfully designed state- or sector-based verifiable credential system also holds the promise of significantly reducing administrative burdens, accelerating hiring timelines, and creating more equitable economic outcomes for both healthcare professionals and the organizations that employ them.
This journey towards a more effective, reliable, and skills-focused talent ecosystem in Colorado healthcare depends on the ability to efficiently verify the skills and credentials individuals obtain in ways that instill trust and confidence. The learnings from the report will be used to inform the emerging verifiable credential system in Colorado and will hopefully go a long way in informing the field of practical use cases for learning and employment records to be issued as verifiable credentials. We look forward to seeing how these insights drive meaningful change for our healthcare workforce and the communities they serve.
For more details on the findings and recommendations, explore the full Discovery Report "Exploring Primary Source Verification Experiences with Colorado Hospital and Healthcare Employers.”
This blogpost was edited with support from Gemini
About ColoradoFWD
ColoradoFWD is a pilot demonstration working to catalyze an equitable, skills-based talent ecosystem that uses learning and employment records (LERs) to address urgent workforce shortages in behavioral health and direct care. The demonstration is carried out in partnership with the Colorado Workforce Development Council (CWDC), Colorado Succeeds, the Colorado Hospital Association (CHA), Colorado Community College System (CCCS), Colorado Department of Higher Education, Behavioral Health Administration, Workforce Boulder County, Pikes Peak Workforce Center, LWYL Studio, LLC, SpruceID and a variety of learning and employment record (LER) tools and innovations.This demonstration is made possible with the support of SkillsFWD, a project of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors.