Clinical competence in exercise testing. A statement for physicians from the ACP/ACC/AHA Task Force on Clinical Privileges in Cardiology.

T he granting of clinical staff privileges to physicians is one of the primary mechanisms used by institutions to uphold the quality of care.The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations requires that the granting of initial or continuing medical staff privileges be based on assessments of applicants against professional criteria specified in medical staff bylaws.Physicians themselves are thus charged with identifying the criteria that constitute professional competence and with evaluating their peers accordingly.But the process of evaluating a physician's knowledge and competence is often constrained by the evaluator's own knowledge and ability to elicit the appropriate information, a problem that is compounded by the growing number of highly specialized procedures for which privileges are requested.This guideline is one of a series developed by the American College of Physicians, the American Col- lege of Cardiology, and the American Heart Associ- ation to assist in the assessment of physician competence on a cardiovascular procedure-specific basis.The minimum education, training, experience, and cognitive and technical skills necessary for the com- petent performance of exercise testing are specified.