Credentialing is 30 hours of forms and phone calls per provider. That's the part we take.
Insurance credentialing services for private practices: CAQH, Medicare, Medicaid and every commercial payer you choose, filed within 10 business days and followed up every two weeks until you're in network. Flat fee. No contract. No percentage of your collections.
Fifteen minutes online. You see the price before you sign.
| Payer | Status | Next |
|---|---|---|
| CAQH profile | Built and attested, day 3 | Complete |
| Medicare | Approved day 41 | Effective 11/01 |
| Aetna | Contract received | Effective 11/15 |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield | Committee review | Follow-up 10/14 |
| Cigna | In credentialing | Day 52 of ~90 |
| UnitedHealthcare | In credentialing | Day 52 of ~120 |
You never have to ask where it stands. Every application has a follow-up date, and the Friday update tells you.
Sat on my Aetna and BCBS applications for four months and couldn't get a human on the phone at either. Northgate found a name mismatch between my license and CAQH (which is why both had stalled), fixed it, and had both refiled the same week. In network with 5 of 6 payers by day 80. Honestly the Friday email was the first time anyone told me what was actually happening with my file.
Read all reviewsWhat do our insurance credentialing services include?
Everything that would otherwise be on your desk, from the first registry check to the day a payer loads your effective date. Our provider credentialing services include:
Not included: payer application fees, state license fees, hospital privileging.
- CAQH built or cleaned up, and kept attested so applications don't stall on day one
- Medicare (PECOS), Medicaid and every commercial application prepared and filed for you
- A call or portal check with each payer every 14 days so no file sits in a queue unnoticed
- Returned applications fixed and resubmitted at no charge, the same week
- Contract reviewed and your effective date confirmed in the payer's system, so your first claims don't deny
- Weekly tracker update and a copy of every submission
Which insurance companies can we credential you with?
Any payer that accepts your specialty in your state. The most requested:
Medicare
Blue Cross Blue Shield
Aetna
Cigna
UnitedHealthcare
Optum
Humana
Anthem
Molina
Carelon
Magellan
OscarPlus any regional or employer plan you name on the intake form. Logos are trademarks of their respective owners.
We check yours before filing, appeal the closed ones with a case for your area, and never charge you for a panel that stays shut.
How does credentialing work with Northgate?
Payers decide the timing. We make sure nothing sits waiting on us, and nothing sits waiting on you either.
Start online
NPI, licenses, the payers you want. See your price, sign, pay half, upload documents. That is the last form you fill in.
15 minutesWe file
CAQH and every application submitted within 10 business days of a complete file.
By day 10We chase
Every payer, every 14 days, logged on your tracker. You read a Friday update instead of sitting on hold.
Every 14 daysYou're in-network
We confirm each effective date and remind you before re-credentialing is due, so you never quietly drop off a panel.
Per payer
How long does credentialing take?
Usually 60 to 120 days from submission, and the months you wait do not come back: most commercial payers will not back-date your effective date. The only part anyone controls is whether the file is clean and whether someone is chasing it.
| Payer | Typical time | What slows it down |
|---|---|---|
| Medicare | 60 to 90 days | Missing EFT form, name mismatch with NPPES |
| Medicaid | 45 to 120 days | Fingerprinting, separate managed-care applications |
| Aetna, Cigna, UnitedHealthcare, Humana | 60 to 120 days | Unattested CAQH, expired malpractice certificate |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield | 90 to 150 days | Committee cycles, closed metro panels |
| Behavioral health networks | 60 to 120 days | Separate network from the medical plan |
Why do credentialing applications get returned?
A returned file is the expensive part. The payer does not tell you quickly, the fix is usually small, and the wait starts again from zero. Most returns come from the same handful of mismatches, and all of them are visible before filing.
| Common reason | What we do |
|---|---|
| Name differs across license, NPI, DEA and W-9 | Match every source before filing |
| CAQH not attested or not authorized for the payer | Attest and authorize first; track the date |
| Malpractice certificate expires during review | Record expiry at intake; renew before filing |
| Work-history gap with no explanation | Review your CV; draft the explanation |
| Wrong taxonomy on your NPI | Check and correct on day one |
| Application never received | Record confirmation numbers; follow up every 14 days |
How much does credentialing cost?
$1,200 per provider covers up to 8 payers. Each additional payer is $120. It is a one-time job, so it is a one-time fee: no setup fee, no percentage of collections, no contract, nothing after your last payer decides. Set it against months of your own evenings on hold, or a payer you cannot bill until spring, and the arithmetic is short.
Payer application fees and state license fees are paid by you directly. Credentialing services pricing has the full table.
8 payers are covered by the flat fee.
- CAQH setup or cleanup
- Resubmissions and closed-panel appeals
- Payer whose panel stays closed: not charged
- Weekly tracker, copy of every submission
- No setup fee, no contract
Insurance credentialing by specialty
Every specialty has a trap that costs first-timers a month. These are the ones we see most.
Therapists and mental health
Behavioral health runs through separate networks, and metro panels close. Filing to the medical plan gets you nowhere. We check before filing.
Nurse practitioners and PAs
Collaborative agreements, Medicare reassignment to your group, own-NPI versus incident-to. Get one wrong and claims deny after approval.
Chiropractors
Some payers cap it, some exclude it, Medicare covers spinal manipulation only. We tell you which panels are worth the wait.
PT, OT and speech
Group versus individual enrollment. Filing as the wrong one means filing twice.
Dentists
Dental PPO panels are a different process from medical, with their own fee schedules to review.
New practices
EIN, group NPI, credentialing, then billing, in that order. Out of order, you wait for all of them.
Approval is not the finish line; the first claims are. We can start billing the week your first payer goes live, so the wait ends in revenue, not in another setup. Separate agreement, no setup fee, no obligation. Medical billing services
Questions practices ask about credentialing
How much does a credentialing service cost?
Northgate charges a flat $1,200 per provider for up to 8 payers and $120 per additional payer, half at signing and half at first approval. No setup fee, no charge for resubmissions. Payer and state license fees are separate.
What is the difference between provider enrollment and credentialing?
Credentialing is the payer verifying your licenses and history. Enrollment is being loaded into their system so claims pay. Contracting sets your rates. Practices call all three "credentialing", and a payer can approve one without finishing the next, which is why providers get a welcome letter and then watch claims deny. We do all three and tell you which stage each payer is at. Hospital privileging is separate and we do not offer it.
How long does credentialing take?
Typically 60 to 90 days for Medicare and 60 to 120 for commercial payers, longer for Blue Cross and closed panels. Medicaid varies by state. A clean file and 14-day follow-up are the only two things that make it shorter.
Can I bill while my application is pending?
Not in-network with that payer. Some payers back-date your effective date to the application date; most commercial payers do not, so those visits are gone. We tell you each payer's rule before you see patients under that plan.
I already have a CAQH profile. Do I still need this?
Most existing profiles have an expired attestation, an old address or a missing document. The payer does not tell you; it just returns the application, weeks later. We fix the profile before filing anything.
What if a payer denies the application?
We find out why, fix it, and resubmit or appeal at no charge. If a denial is final for a reason outside anyone's control, that payer's fee is credited to another.
Should I just do it myself?
You can. It is not hard, it is slow: an application per payer, a portal login per payer, then months of follow-up, and at least one file usually comes back. For one provider and one payer it can be reasonable. Beyond that, the follow-up is where your evenings go.
What do I need to start?
Your NPI, state license number and CAQH login if you have one. The form lists the documents for your specialty, saves your progress, and we look up the rest.
Last updated 12 October 2026. Reviewed by Sarah Whitfield, Credentialing Specialist, Northgate Billing.
Stop chasing payers. Start this week.
Fifteen minutes online. See your price, sign, pay half, upload your documents. The next thing you read is a Friday update, and the next call you get is the one saying you're approved.
- Your NPI. We look up the rest.
- State license number
- CAQH login, if you have one
- Group NPI and tax ID, if you bill under a group