Karen Vineyard, associate vice president of credentialing, licensing and privileging at Radiology Partners (RP), discusses RP’s supportive and collaborative work culture, where teammates are valued, empowered to drive efficiency improvements and play a vital role in ensuring high-quality patient care through teamwork and continuous innovation.
Karen Vineyard is one of two national leaders directly overseeing credentialing, licensing and privileging at RP. Since joining RP in 2023, she and her team have streamlined RP’s these processes and implemented new systems to improve efficiency in ensuring clinicians are appropriately trained and qualified to provide safe and effective care – allowing RP physicians to begin providing radiology care sooner. Outside of work, she enjoys cooking, baking and spending time with her two granddaughters. She and her husband also enjoy traveling and camping throughout the state of Michigan, where they are based.
How does your role contribute to the overall practice at RP?
I oversee the processes that ensures RP radiologists are properly credentialed, licensed and privileged. We validate they are trained to provide the services they perform in the hospitals and healthcare facilities RP serves.
How did you get into this role? What’s your background?
I initially wanted to be a pediatrician, but I became a parent during my second year of medical school and decided to step away from medical school. I started working for an internal medicine residency program in Michigan, and they asked me to help with credentialing paperwork. That’s when I started dabbling in helping figure out what steps residents needed to take to start caring for patients.
There is not a college program specific to medical staff services or even credentialing, licensing and privileging, rather it’s something you learn from experience. People often relate credentialing, licensing and privileging to a medical secretary, but we’re not secretaries by any means. Our goal is to ensure patients receive high-quality care from the clinicians who are coming into a facility, making our job just as serious.
How did you connect with RP?
I met one of my good friends and close colleagues, Shirley Wilson, about 15 years ago. We both worked for the same group, and after she started working for RP, she said, “We have this opening, and if anybody can do this and succeed, it is you. We need you here at RP.” I applied, got connected, interviewed and started in January 2023 – and I’ve been here making an impact ever since.
Talk about the initial ask of what you needed to accomplish and what’s been happening in your first two years at RP?
When I started, the team’s turnaround time to onboard a clinician was almost three times longer than it is now. We created some efficiencies, and within nine months of joining RP, we reduced the turnaround time for onboarding and implemented processes to license clinicians more quickly. I’m proud of the tremendous efforts by our team to make this happen for our radiologists.
What is so impressive to you about your team?
What excites me about the team is their resilience. Credentialing, licensing and privileging can be a thankless job, and it shouldn’t be, because without medical staff professionals, clinicians like radiologists couldn’t provide their services – and we would have more unqualified clinicians who could harm patients. Despite all the changes, our team at RP has shown such resilience, diligence and commitment to quality patient care. They continue to find ways to improve.
What excites you about the near future of RP? What are some of the things keeping you engaged and driving you forward personally in your role?
Culture is a priority at RP. Everyone collaborates and treats each other kindly, and we are all centered around our common mission. My team keeps me engaged, because I value them and everything they do. They’re not just “someone who works with me.” They’re my family, too. Looking future–forward, we’re creating a new system to continue to improve efficiencies and enable radiologists to read even more quickly. I’m excited to reduce the manual work and use automation so our team can focus on the details and our radiologists can focus on patient care.
In the future, if you are looking back at your RP career, what would make you say, “This has been a great success?”
When I look back from when I first started to where we are today, we are turning things around much faster. Looking at where we’re going to be in the next six to 12 months, I’m excited to see those turnaround times come down even more. I’m excited to see our progress and where we’re going.
Karen Vineyard, CPMSM, CPCS, earned her bachelor’s degree in healthcare administration at National American University.
Radiology Partners, through its owned and affiliated practices, is a leading physician-led and physician-owned radiology practice in the U.S. Learn more about our mission, values and practice principles at RadPartners.com. For the latest news from RP, follow along on our blog and on X, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube. Interested in learning about career opportunities? Visit our careers page.
