Which Carriers Should My Practice Participate In?

As a newly-organized health care practice, one of your first decisions is with which commercial carriers you should participate.

Many practices tend to go overboard and over-credential with too many carriers. You will have to re-enroll as well. These enrollment obligations will require that you and your staff invest both time and money into these activities.

Here are our top tips on choosing commercial carriers to participate with:

• Talk to your referring physicians offices. Ask which carriers are their top 5 to 10 for their practice. It’s key to be able to see those patients that your referring doctors will be sending your way.
• Check out the websites of similar providers in your geographic area. Review their lists of in-network carriers for ideas on the types of patients that you will be seeing. 
• Ask your local hospitals which type of patients they see most often in their facility so you can get an idea of where to start.
• Enroll with large, national firms such as Cigna, Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield and United Health Care that may cover many potential patients in your area.

Don’t forget that you will want to consider enrolling with the government programs including Medicare and Tricare and your state Medicaid program. Participation in these is not required, but your targeted patients may benefit from these plans and will want to use providers which are enrolled.

Let Us Manage All Your Payer Enrollment Services

If you require medical credentialing and payer enrollment needs for your practice or medical facility, please contact 1st Assistant. Our experienced and dedicated specialists will provide all credentialing and enrollment services quickly and will monitor your account for ongoing updates and re-attestations. Heidi Henderson, our company owner and President, is eager to meet you and discuss your payer enrollment needs. Please call us at 512.201.2668 or contact us via the website.