Why Outsourcing May Be the Smarter Investment
Credentialing is a foundational process in any healthcare organization, but its true cost is often overlooked. Whether you’re onboarding new providers or maintaining active enrollments, staying credentialed with insurance payers is essential for uninterrupted billing, regulatory compliance, and organizational stability. Yet, how you approach credentialing, either internally or through an external partner, can make all the difference in cost, accuracy, and long-term success.
The Hidden Burden of Managing Credentialing In-House
At first glance, handling credentialing internally might seem like a cost-effective option. However, for many practices, this approach becomes overwhelming and expensive once the hidden labor, compliance risks, and revenue delays begin to emerge.
Credentialing is a detailed, deadline-driven process that pulls existing administrative or billing staff away from their core responsibilities. Without dedicated expertise, the work often becomes reactive, leading to costly oversights. Consider the fact that a credentialing coordinator’s salary alone can range from $45,000 to $70,000 annually. This does not include training, benefits, or lost productivity from inefficient workflows.
Even more impactful are the delays. A single error or missed revalidation deadline can postpone onboarding or interrupt payer participation. If a provider typically generates $1,200 per day in billable services, a two-week delay in credentialing could cost a practice more than $12,000 in lost revenue.
Beyond logistics and dollars, there’s also the risk of noncompliance. Credentialing isn’t just paperwork. It’s tied to regulatory requirements. A lapsed license, missed CAQH attestation, or outdated file submission can result in audits, penalties, or payer termination, jeopardizing both reimbursements and reputation.
The Value of Outsourcing Credentialing
Outsourcing credentialing to a dedicated partner like Preferred HCP removes these burdens while improving efficiency, accuracy, and peace of mind.
Our credentialing experts focus exclusively on payer enrollment, revalidations, and compliance. We understand the nuances of different insurance networks, deadlines, and documentation requirements. This leads to reduces errors and speeds up the process. While your team focuses on patient care, we manage everything behind the scenes, including CAQH maintenance, provider recredentialing, hospital affiliations, and payer updates.
Because we proactively monitor expirations and submission timelines, our clients avoid costly gaps in enrollment and reimbursement. Providers stay active, billable, and in good standing, without the guesswork or last-minute scrambles.
Outsourcing also reduces long-term costs. Compared to the expense of hiring, training, and retaining credentialing staff, or dealing with delays and lost revenue, our managed service model delivers expert support, full transparency, and dependable results at a predictable monthly rate.
Final Thoughts: A Smarter Way to Stay Credentialed
Credentialing is too critical to be treated as an afterthought. While in-house management may work temporarily, the hidden costs and risks can quickly escalate. Outsourcing to Preferred HCP allows you to safeguard your revenue, streamline your operations, and ensure ongoing compliance with none of the stress.
Curious how much time and money you could save by outsourcing credentialing? Contact us to schedule a free discovery call and explore how our services can support your practice.
