New grad - slow credentialing?

[RainySmiles]

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New psych grad. Trying to credential with a psychiatrist-owned private practice that takes insurance. At first it was "2-4 weeks" (Mid august) which then became 6 weeks (pushed to late august), now 8 weeks (pushed to mid September)... Is this normal? The DO practice owner stated that some insurances like BCBS aren't even credentialing new providers anymore right now.

In California if that matters, is anyone else having this problem or just me or is this normal?

 

[psydocc]

6-12 weeks is a normal timeframe

 

[comp1]

Always assume 3 months. New grads need to start in March of their PGY4 year. That said, the VA has a new 30 day push! It's not quite there, but it's a lot closer to that than what it was before.

 

[SPsych6]

Yeah, 3mo is good estimate. The only places that can get it done sooner tend to be locums positions. And unfortunately, California isn't part of the Compact license system.

 

[calvnandhobbs68]

Its been a few years since I did initial credentialing but yeah idk who told you 2-4 weeks, that would be crazy fast.

2-3 months is more typical, some insurance companies even longer. Way it usually goes at least outpatient is you get on a couple of the faster insurance panels, start taking some of those patients and then hopefully the slower ones roll around a few months later.

 

[TexasPhysician]

2-4 weeks is a really optimistic timeline. 2-5 months is more accurate.

 

[Atreides]

Also in California, yup, credentialing is snail slow. 3 months has been the fastest, I had one insurance (Cigna) that took 9 months! Anthem (Blue Cross) has refused to credential period. HealthNet claimed they had too many psychiatrists in my subspecialty (fat lie).

 

[Stumpyman]

Why are some california insurers not credentialing psychiatrists? Is it due to too many docs in the Bay Area/LA?

 

[AcronymAllergy]

Not a psychiatrist, but just chiming in that the timeline isn't unusual. A month or less would be amazing; sounds like they were overly optimistic at the start. I'd expect ~3 months at least.

 

[Mad Jack]

3 months for every job I ever picked up