Every new clinician is a big investment for a practice. Your job is to make them billable as fast as possible, without shortcuts that cause problems later.
The credentialing timeline
| When | What |
|---|---|
| Offer signed | Collect license, NPI, CV, malpractice insurance, diplomas, DEA (prescribers) |
| Week 1 | CAQH profile completed and attested; practice granted access |
| Week 1–2 | Applications sent to each payer the practice works with |
| Every 2 weeks | Follow up on every application and log the reference numbers |
| 60–120 days | Typical commercial approval; Medicaid varies by state |
| Approval | Record the effective date per payer; confirm the clinician is linked to the group |
Until a payer is approved, plan the clinician’s caseload with self-pay patients, payers already approved, or a waitlist.
Onboarding checklist
- License verified on the state board website (screenshot saved)
- NPI, CAQH attested, malpractice certificate on file
- EHR account, calendar, telehealth link, secure email
- Fee schedule and the payers they’re in network with, by effective date
- Cancellation policy, crisis protocol and escalation matrix explained
- Supervision arrangement documented, if they are an associate or pre-licensed
- First-week schedule with a mix of intakes and open time for setup
The compliance calendar
One calendar, owned by the practice manager, with reminders 90 days before each:
- License renewals
- CAQH re-attestation (every 120 days)
- Malpractice insurance renewal
- Payer revalidation (Medicare and Medicaid revalidate on a cycle)
- Supervision agreement renewals
A lapsed license or attestation can stop payments for every patient that clinician sees. The calendar is cheap insurance.
Helping the owner hire
You don’t make the hiring decision, but you prepare it: the waitlist by specialty and time of day, current clinicians’ utilization, which payers new patients ask for most, and how long credentialing will take for the new hire.