Getting credentialed with insurance companies takes time, paperwork, and constant follow-up. We handle it all for you, so you can focus on your patients and start seeing insured clients sooner.
Getting credentialed with insurance companies is one of the most critical and most time-consuming steps a mental health provider takes. Between CAQH profile setup, NPI registration, payer-specific applications, government enrollment, and relentless follow-ups, the credentialing process can take months and push your practice’s revenue out even further.
At Mental Health Billing SRG, we specialize exclusively in mental health provider credentialing and behavioral health insurance enrollment. We are not a general medical billing company that handles credentialing on the side. Every member of our team understands the specific payer rules, panel requirements, and documentation standards that apply to therapists, psychologists, psychiatrists, licensed clinical social workers (LCSWs), licensed professional counselors (LPCs), licensed marriage and family therapists (LMFTs), and group practices.
We manage your entire credentialing process from your first application through to approval so you can focus entirely on your patients and start seeing insured clients as soon as possible.
Every credentialing engagement covers the full enrollment lifecycle. There are no partial services, no handoffs mid-process, and no surprises. Here is exactly what we handle on your behalf:
Your CAQH ProView profile is the foundation of every commercial insurance credentialing application. We build it correctly from the start, populate every required field, upload all supporting documents, and re-attest it on schedule every 120 days so your applications are never delayed or rejected because of an outdated or incomplete profile.
We prepare and submit tailored provider enrollment applications to all major commercial payers, including BlueCross BlueShield, Aetna, Cigna/Evernorth, Humana, UnitedHealthcare/Optum, Anthem and regional plans in your state. Each application is customized to the payer’s specific requirements and submitted with all required documentation to minimize back-and-forth and accelerate approval.
We manage your Medicare Part B enrollment through the Provider Enrollment, Chain, and Ownership System (PECOS), ensuring your application is complete, accurate and submitted correctly the first time. We also stay current with CMS rule changes including the expanded Medicare eligibility for LCSWs, LPCs and LMFTs under recent regulatory updates so you never miss an enrollment window.
Medicaid enrollment is state-specific, and the rules, timelines, and required documents vary significantly from state to state. We handle Medicaid applications for your state’s fee-for-service program and, where applicable, for managed care organizations (MCOs) and behavioral health carve-outs that administer benefits in your market.
Once a payer approves your application, we review the offered fee schedule against current market rates for your specialty and location. Where rates are negotiable, we advocate on your behalf to ensure you are reimbursed fairly from day one. Many providers leave significant revenue on the table by accepting initial contract terms without review.
Every credentialing application requires the same set of documents and missing or expired items are the single most common cause of application delays. We gather, organize and track your licenses, malpractice insurance certificates, DEA registration, board certifications, work history and professional references so your applications never stall over paperwork.
We register and maintain your Type I (individual) and Type II (organizational) National Provider Identifiers through NPPES, keeping your records current so every claim routes correctly and is never rejected over an NPI discrepancy.
Credentialing is not a one-time event. Licenses expire, CAQH profiles require re-attestation, and payers conduct periodic revalidations. We track every renewal date and revalidation deadline across all your enrolled payers and manage them proactively so you never lose in-network status because of an administrative oversight.
All services are tailored to meet the unique needs of your mental health practice
Insurance panels close more often in behavioral health than in almost any other specialty. We track panel availability across major payers, identify the right contacts for hardship and exception requests, and submit compelling applications that give you the strongest possible chance of gaining in-network status even when a panel is technically closed.
Telehealth expansion has made multi-state credentialing a reality for many providers. Each state requires separate Medicaid enrollment, state licensing verification, and in some cases separate commercial payer applications. We manage multi-state credentialing as a single coordinated process rather than 50 separate projects.
Most commercial payers take 60 to 120 days to process a credentialing application. Delays caused by incomplete documentation, missing attestations, or unanswered payer requests can push that timeline to 6 months or longer. We follow up with every payer proactively tracking application status, responding to requests within 24 hours, and escalating when timelines are exceeded.
A common misunderstanding among group practice owners: even with a group NPI, every provider on your team requires individual credentialing with every insurance company. We manage both the group practice enrollment and each individual provider's panel applications so your entire team stays in good standing.
Our process is built to move fast and stay transparent because every delayed approval is revenue your practice is not collecting.
We assign the right CPT and ICD-10 codes for every visit and submit clean, payer-verified claims catching errors before submission not after.
We verify every patient’s insurance and benefits before submitting a claim catching coverage issues early before they become denials.
We submit all claims electronically through approved clearinghouses faster than paper, with a clean audit trail and quicker payments.
We track every claim through the payer’s system and follow up on delays so you never have to chase down a payer yourself.
We post payments, reconcile EOBs, and flag underpayments so your financials are always accurate and up to date.
We work with mental health providers of every size and specialty from solo therapists to large group practices and we make credentialing simple for all of them.
Individual and solo therapists LCSWs, LPCs, LMFTs, and licensed counselors starting or growing a private practice
Group practices and behavioral health clinics credentialing every provider on your team under both individual and group NPIs
Psychologists (PhD, PsyD) seeking enrollment with commercial, Medicare and Medicaid plans
Telehealth and virtual mental health providers including multi-state licensing and state-specific telehealth payer enrollment rules
Psychiatrists (MD, DO) for medication management, psychiatric evaluation and telehealth billing
Psychiatric Nurse Practitioners (NP, CNS) including collaborative practice agreement requirements
Our process is built to move fast and stay transparent because every delayed approval is revenue your practice is not collecting.
Behavioral health credentialing is not the same as medical credentialing. Many commercial insurers operate entirely separate behavioral health networks with their own application processes, timelines and documentation requirements. TRICARE has distinct enrollment rules for mental health providers. Medicaid behavioral health carve-outs vary by state and by managed care organization.
A general medical credentialing service will apply the same process they use for primary care physicians and miss the behavioral-health-specific requirements that cause delays and rejections. Our team works exclusively in mental health and behavioral health billing and credentialing, which means we know every payer’s exact requirements, which panels are open and who to contact when an application needs to be escalated.
Every month without in-network status is revenue your practice is not collecting. The average mental health provider loses $2,000 to $5,000 per month in uncollected insurance reimbursements while waiting to become credentialed. Our team begins working on your application within 48 hours of onboarding.
Schedule a free credentialing consultation no upfront fees, no obligation. We will assess your current credentialing status, identify which payers to prioritize and give you a clear timeline for getting in-network.
You only pay when you get paid
Most commercial insurance companies take 60 to 120 days to process a credentialing application for mental health providers. Medicare and Medicaid enrollment can take 90 to 150 days depending on the state and the volume of applications the payer is processing. Our team’s proactive follow-up approach helps prevent unnecessary delays applications submitted with complete, accurate documentation and followed up consistently process significantly faster.
Yes, you can see patients before your credentialing is approved, but your billing options depend on the payer. Some commercial insurers allow retroactive billing, meaning that once you are approved, you can submit claims for sessions you provided during the credentialing period. Medicare does not allow retroactive billing. We verify each payer’s retroactive billing policy before you begin seeing insured patients so there are no surprises when it comes time to bill.
CAQH ProView is a centralized database that most commercial insurers use to verify provider credentials. Rather than submitting the same documents to every payer separately, you maintain one CAQH profile that participating payers access directly. It is a mandatory requirement for credentialing with Aetna, Cigna, UnitedHealthcare, BlueCross BlueShield, and most other major commercial plans. We set up and maintain your CAQH profile as part of every credentialing engagement.
Yes, every therapist, psychologist, counselor, or other licensed provider at your practice must be individually credentialed with each insurance company, even if your group has its own NPI and is already enrolled. Individual credentialing and group enrollment are separate processes. We manage both simultaneously to get your whole team in-network as efficiently as possible.
Credentialing is the process of verifying a provider’s qualifications and approving them for inclusion in a payer’s network. Contracting is the agreement that sets the reimbursement rates and terms under which the provider bills. Most payers handle both as a single process, but some particularly larger commercial plans separate them. We manage both and review every contract’s fee schedule before you sign.
Our credentialing services are priced as a percentage of collections starting at 4% meaning you only pay when you get paid. There are no upfront fees, no per-application charges, and no long-term contracts. This structure aligns our incentives with yours: we are motivated to get you approved and billing as quickly as possible.
Yes, Mental Health Billing SRG handles mental health provider credentialing and Medicaid enrollment in all 50 states. We are experienced with state-specific Medicaid applications, managed care organization (MCO) enrollment, and regional commercial payer requirements across the country.
We investigate every denial, identify the specific reason, and either resolve the issue and resubmit or file a formal appeal on your behalf. Most credentialing denials are caused by incomplete documentation, expired attestations, or payer-side processing errors all of which are fixable. We track denial patterns across your applications and implement process improvements to prevent the same issues from recurring.
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