Critical Steps for Efficient Provider Credentialing and Enrollment
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One of the first steps in ophthalmology and optometry medical and vision plan billing is ensuring the provider has been credentialed and enrolled by insurance payers and the Council for Affordable Quality Healthcare (CAQH®).
On average, the provider credentialing process can take between 60 to 120 days, so plan early. One mistake during the credentialing process can lead to a delay, often resulting in having to start the process all over again.
Let’s explore the difference between provider credentialing and enrollment, and review the critical steps you need to take to ensure an efficient credentialing process.
What is Provider Credentialing?
Provider credentialing (sometimes called medical provider credentialing) is the process of gathering and authenticating (verifying) a doctor’s credentials (professional background and educational history). Credentialing ensures that providers have the licenses, certifications, and skills to care for patients properly.
If the provider isn’t properly credentialed or re-credentialed with the insurance company, the insurance payer will not reimburse the provider for services rendered. And to complicate things even further, you must regularly follow up with insurance payers to make sure the providers are enrolled in-network when enrollment is open.
Insurance plan credentialing is often called “getting on insurance panels.” Getting a provider credentialed can be challenging and time-consuming—there is no one size fits all approach.
While Medicare, DME (Durable Medical Equipment), and Medicaid provider credentialing can be done via their web portals, most insurance payers have their own credentialing process.
Also, most commercial insurance payers require re-credentialing every few years. Medicare requires re-validation every five years, DMEPOS suppliers re-validate every three years, and some states require Medicaid re-credentialing annually.
If you bill an insurance payer and the provider is not credentialed with the payer, the claim may be denied based on the patient’s plan type, or the provider may be reimbursed at a lower rate for out-of-network coverage.
If the insurance payer denies the claim, most set time limits on re-submitting a claim. If a patient has secondary insurance, you can run into even more issues—the longer you wait, the more likely you won’t recover the maximum amount (or any) from the insurance payer.
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What is CAQH ProView?
Most medical and vision plans, except for Medicare and Medicaid, use the CAQH ProView in their credentialing process.
CAQH ProView is an online “data-collection” credentialing solution that allows ophthalmologists, optometrists, and other healthcare providers to enter provider data into its secure central database. CAQH gathers information about the provider, making it available for third-party payers to access.
There is no cost for the provider to register with CAQH ProView. However, before the provider can upload their information into CAQH ProView, the insurance company must notify CAQH to invite the provider to join CAQH to create, update, and maintain their directory information.
What is Provider Enrollment?
Provider enrollment is enrolling a provider with commercial or government health insurance plans to which the provider can be reimbursed for the services rendered to patients. For example, once you have successfully enrolled with the insurance plan, the provider is considered “in-network.”
Pro Tip for Completing Medicare Provider Enrollment: Refer to the Medicare enrollment and certification website for instructions on how to access the PECOS (Provider Enrollment, Chain, and Ownership System) Medicare enrollment management system, on how to become a Medicare provider or supplier, find your taxonomy code, renew your enrollment, order and certify, enroll as a DMEPOS supplier, and more.
What Are Critical Steps for Credentialing a Provider?
Make a list and collect all information you need for provider credentialing applications: professional licenses, work history (curriculum vitae or resume), certifications, malpractice insurance certificate, references, practice ownership details, W-9, background checks, bank statements, and more.
Get the provider’s National Provider Identifier (NPI), Federal Tax ID, and Practice EIN (this must match what is listed on the provider’s W-9 form).
Register the provider with CAQH and obtain their CAQH ID. Make sure CAQH has a valid W-9 and malpractice certificate for the provider. Confirm that the dates of employment and education are in the “month/year” format. If you don’t post valid dates, CAQH will reject the application. CAQH will also notify the provider quarterly via an email to “re-attest” that the information in the profile is current—always reply promptly.
Confirm if you need the original handwritten signature of the provider to process the credentialing request.
Complete and submit a series of applications with each insurance payer.
Once you complete the initial credentialing review, always get a “reference number” from the insurance payer and document this in your credentialing tracking records.
Follow-up with insurance payers on the provider’s credentialing application status—they are notorious for not calling back if something is missing from the application. Document all follow-up calls or online communications throughout the credentialing process.
Ensure you update your billing system with payer information: Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) enrollment.
Review the fee schedule before you sign a credentialing contract with an insurance payer. You may also need to request a fee schedule and provide the payer with your top 20 billing codes.
Keep copies of all credentialing applications and contracts you submit and credentialing and enrollment letters you receive from the insurance payer.
Why You Need a Reliable Provider Credentialing and Enrollment Process
The best eye care revenue cycle management (RCM) partner helps simplify the provider credentialing and enrollment process by reviewing and gathering documentation to determine the provider’s participation in the health plan.
Fast Pay Health provides a reliable and efficient credentialing and enrollment service. We eliminate the headaches of submitting and tracking credentialing and enrollment applications based on the insurance plan requirements (and there are many).
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