How To Accelerate The Medical Credentialing Procedure
The process of obtaining new hires certified may be handled by a team in larger practices, or it may be outsourced to a company that supports it. Smaller practices, however, might choose to resolve the situation on their own. There are actions you may take, regardless of how big or small the institution is, to streamline the procedure and get medical credentialing services for providers more quickly. To hasten and streamline the procedure, remember these suggestions.
Begin as soon as you can
For healthcare practitioners and medical billing companies who need to obtain qualifications, three to five months is the norm. But if there are any administrative mistakes, it can take a lot longer. Always be prepared for a four-month wait. The procedure for new hiring should begin as soon as practicable.
The same is true for recredentialing, even though physicians and nurses are still permitted to practice after receiving a recredentialing letter. A missed deadline will interfere with practices.
Utilize a package of healthcare credentials.
The application procedure might be intimidating, even for seasoned medical professionals. A support package with plenty of helpful information can greatly reduce the load.
The more details you can offer the better if you’re an administrator or managing your own practice. Make the procedure straightforward for practitioners to finish.
Any package should contain information, including but not restricted to:
- Practice and remit address
- National Provider Identifier-2 (NPI-2)
- Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN)
- Phone and fax number
- Completed W-9
- List of potential insurance companies a physician can apply with at an institution
- Instructions on applying for Council on Affordable Quality Healthcare and National Provider Identifier numbers
- It’s also wise to take feedback from existing staff or advice from Sermo members on how the introductory package can be improved.
Tips For The Medical Credentialing Process
The credentialing process must be started beforehand to prevent potential issues, whether you are adding a new doctor or starting your own practice. You may encounter a delayed cash flow, tough scheduling due to patient restrictions, and frequent phone calls from payers if you disregard the importance of the credentialing process.
By putting these tips into practise, your practise can position itself for success.
Make A Workflow Decision
An application for credentials has a very complicated existence. Who will appoint new employees and handle credentialing? What will be the most effective order of things?
The process will remain successful, efficient, and low-stress if you map out your practice’s procedure in advance and designate point individuals for each phase.
Implement quality controls
You might have to start the application process over if there is even the slightest mistake on the form. In this approach, even the smallest error might cause your company to lose months of progress.
Make arrangements for systems to thoroughly examine each application’s details before submitting them to insurers. This could entail submitting applications through multiple administrative personnel or utilizing an application platform that checks for mistakes automatically.
Plan the procedure into your hiring process.
Even under ideal circumstances, a quick, error-free, and thorough credentialing procedure might take weeks or even months. Consider including this in your human resources plan.
Because of the credentialing procedure, give new hires at least two months after employment before they begin seeing patients. Further condition the start date on credential approval.
Make A Staff Credentialing Guide
Credentialing personnel successfully depends just as much on the individual candidates as it does on your administrative team. Set up the candidates for success.
Give applicants a clear, step-by-step guide that they may use to gather supporting evidence and finish applications in accordance with your precise requirements.
Maintain A Digital Warehouse
Each insurer has a different set of required documentation, so when numerous staff members submit applications to various insurers, the paperwork quickly mounts up. Additionally, certain credentials will require updating in the future.
Create a central filing system for all required documents. Make sure it is both reachable and secure.
From beginning to end, follow every application.
If there is a problem with any application that has been submitted, you might not find out about it for a few weeks or months. Any delay in the process causes your company unnecessary financial hardship.
Therefore, take the initiative to ensure that each application is processed as quickly as feasible. Until the procedure is finished, this entails regularly checking up with insurers to learn the status of each application.
One reason why many practices employ a third-party provider for credential applications is because tracking is an important element of the process.
Update resumes
It is possible to prevent any misunderstandings throughout the physician credentialing process by making sure that a physician’s Curriculum Vitae (CV) is completely updated to reflect their current position. An updated CV should contain privileged facilities, contract groups, and any leadership or teaching positions they may have held in addition to the obvious information like education and employment background. A fast background check is also advisable to ensure that the information on a doctor’s CV is accurate.
Plan wisely
It’s crucial to attempt to avoid duplicating labor as much as possible because medical credentialing is such a burdensome process. Choose a strategy for making the most of the opportunity. Do two payers’ applications match exactly? Exist any “reciprocity regulations” that span multiple states that you may use? (It will be simpler for a doctor to become certified by Anthem in another state if they currently are in one.) Alternatively, are there any further registrations for the new physician that you can complete using the data you’re gathering? Finding the answers to these questions is crucial.
Streamline Everything
The physician credentialing procedure can be made easier by making all the supporting documents electronically available. Having an electronic copy on hand can prevent a wild dash to locate the physical document and figure out how to deliver it where it needs to be if a missing document is needed at the last minute (via fax, mail, scanning, etc).
Check the State’s Regulations
State laws governing medical credentialing differ, and new legislation may have an impact. It doesn’t necessarily follow that the standards will be the same next year just because you handled the credentialing procedure well two years ago. In order to prevent any unpleasant shocks along the way, it is crucial to periodically review for updates and modifications and adjust internal processes accordingly
Verify each box
Make sure to carefully review each payer’s application and to include all necessary details in order to guarantee that everything is accurate. Incomplete, erroneous, or out-of-date information can be found on about 85% of all applications for medical credentials. The best 90-day credentialing time can only be achieved by completing each application accurately the first time.
Employ CAQH
A uniform credentialing program is offered by the Coalition for Affordable Quality Healthcare (CAQH), and physicians who routinely update and testify with CAQH find that being credentialed and recredentialed is significantly simpler. As you look to hire new staff in the future, encourage your current employees to stay current and inquire about CAQH from potential applicants to see if their attention to detail could streamline the onboarding procedure.
Although the process of credentialing doctors might occasionally seem onerous, it is a crucial component of the healthcare system. Setting up a rigorous method for submitting a physician credentialing application will help to cut down on needless delays and prevent expensive errors. New doctors joining your healthcare practice will be able to serve patients sooner thanks to faster, more effective credentialing, which will improve patient care and increase income.
Additional References that are Secure
Three professional references must be included with applications, according to the majority of credentialing organizations. In many instances, the review itself doesn’t even start until all necessary materials are obtained. It follows that the physician credentialing process as a whole could be delayed if only one reference is delivered late. Obtaining additional references will increase the likelihood that things will proceed as planned (perhaps four or even five).
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