Do they file payers in parallel?
Sequential filing is the single most expensive habit in credentialing. Five payers filed one after another can push first revenue out by a year; filed together, the calendar collapses to the slowest single payer.
Buyer's guide
How to choose a credentialing company
Most credentialing vendors look identical on a website. These are the six questions that separate a project that closes to a billable date from one that stalls for a year.
Evaluate
Six questions to ask before you sign
Who actually owns your roster?
Ask for a named credentialing lead, not a shared inbox or a ticket queue. Ask how often they contact payers and what happens when a file stalls in committee.
Do they do contracting too?
Credentialing without contracting does not make you in-network. A vendor who stops at 'approved' leaves you with no fee schedule and no billable date.
Will they confirm effective dates in writing?
Committee approval is not a roster load. Claims submitted before the load deny even when the date is valid. Insist on written effective dates plus directory verification.
Do they cover your specialty and carve-outs?
Behavioral health, ABA, and therapy run through carve-outs like Optum Behavioral, Carelon, and Magellan. A medical-only vendor will approve you on the medical plan and miss the network that pays your claims.
Do they handle maintenance, not just launch?
Re-credentialing, CAQH re-attestation, license and DEA expirables, adds and terms, and demographic changes are how groups quietly fall off panels.
Red flags
Signs a project will stall
- Vague timelines with no per-payer detail
- No named owner for your account
- Credentialing only — contracting handled 'by the payer'
- Status reported as a percentage instead of a payer-by-payer list
- Closed panels reported as final without an exception attempt
- No re-credentialing or expirable tracking after go-live
How Credify works
What we commit to
- Parallel filing across all commercial and government payers
- One named credentialing lead per group
- Credentialing and contracting run together
- Written effective dates plus directory and claims-system verification
- Behavioral, ABA, and therapy carve-outs included
- All 50 states, including Medicaid programs and MCO rosters
- Ongoing re-credentialing, expirables, and roster maintenance
- Closed-panel exception requests worked on the plan's reopening cycle
Comparisons
Comparing us to a specific vendor?
We publish honest side-by-side pages for the platforms buyers ask about most.
FAQ
Questions buyers ask
What do credentialing companies actually do?
A credentialing company collects and reconciles provider documents, builds and attests CAQH, files applications with each payer, responds to verification requests, pursues files through committee, reviews contracts, confirms effective dates, and maintains re-credentialing and expirables afterward.
How much do credentialing companies charge?
Most price per provider per payer, with a monthly retainer option for groups that hire continuously. Cost varies with the number of payers, states, and whether contracting and maintenance are included. Compare scope, not just the headline number.
Is it worth outsourcing credentialing?
It usually is when you have more than a few providers, multiple payers, or multi-state growth. The value is not the paperwork; it's parallel filing and weekly payer pursuit, which pull the first billable date forward by months.
How do I switch credentialing companies mid-project?
Get an export of every submitted application with dates and payer contacts, then have the new vendor audit where each file actually sits. We do this regularly — stalled files are re-filed or escalated rather than restarted blindly.
What questions should I ask before signing?
Ask whether payers are filed in parallel, who owns your roster, whether contracting is included, how effective dates are confirmed, whether carve-outs are covered, and what maintenance looks like after go-live.
Resources
Related guides
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Put us through the six questions
Book a call and ask every one of them. We'll answer with specifics about your payers and your roster.