You're ready to accept insurance in your psychiatric practice, but CAQH credentialing stands between you and your first reimbursement check. This universal database connects you with over 1,000 health plans nationwide, and without it, you're essentially invisible to insurance companies.

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While the process might seem overwhelming at first, getting it right from the start can mean the difference between seeing your first insurance payment in 60 days versus waiting 6 months due to preventable errors.

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This guide will walk you through setting up your CAQH profile correctly the first time, preparing the exact documents insurers require, and most importantly, building systems to maintain your profile so you never face suspended payments down the road.

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Table of Contents

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Quick Start Guide

• What is CAQH?
• Do I already have a profile?
• Cost and fees

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Setting Up CAQH

• Document preparation
• Step-by-step setup
• Understanding attestation

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Ongoing Management

• The 120-day re-attestation rule
• Profile maintenance
• Troubleshooting common issues

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Advanced Topics

• Specialty requirements
• Getting help

What is CAQH?

The Council for Affordable Quality Healthcare sounds like another bureaucratic acronym, but it's actually your lifeline to getting paid. Think of CAQH as the master key that unlocks every insurance company's door. Without it, you're essentially invisible to the 1,000+ health plans that decide whether to reimburse you.

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The platform connects 4.8 million clinicians with payers nationwide. For psychiatrists accepting insurance, this is the foundation your entire billing system sits on.

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Do I already have a CAQH profile?

If you've never worked anywhere that accepted insurance, you need to create a CAQH profile from scratch.

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If you worked at a hospital or other insurance-accepting facility, someone probably set up a profile for you. Try logging in at proview.caqh.org with your usual professional email. If that doesn't work, use their password recovery tool. Don't create a duplicate profile—the system flags duplicates and cleanup takes weeks.

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CAQH cost and fees

CAQH costs nothing. Zero registration fees, no monthly charges, no re-attestation costs. You might encounter optional costs for professional credentialing help ($500-$2,000), but the platform itself remains free.

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Essential CAQH Timelines

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Setting up CAQH

Document preparation

The 30 minutes you spend organizing files upfront saves hours of frustration later. I've watched colleagues abandon half-completed profiles because they couldn't find their malpractice certificate.

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Pro tip: If you're feeling overwhelmed by the credentialing process, Osmind’s specialized billing and practice management services can handle CAQH setup alongside payer enrollment, often reducing your time-to-revenue by 30-60 days.

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Special requirements by specialty and practice type

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Psychiatrists need: Medical school verification (LCME or ECFMG), residency verification (ACGME), and board certification (ABPN). Each follows its own timeline.

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Psychiatric nurse practitioners need: RN license verification, advanced practice nursing licenses, ANCC psychiatric certification, and collaborative agreements in restricted states.

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Controlled substance prescribing: DEA registration covers federal requirements. State-specific CDS certificates create additional paperwork. The regulations change frequently, so stay current with your state's requirements.

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Pro tip: If you're planning to offer treatments like Spravato that require complex prior authorizations, look for practice management partners who specialize in interventional psychiatry. They can handle both your credentialing and the ongoing prior auth requirements that come with these treatments. Prior authorizations alone can cost practices $60,000+ annually in hidden administrative costs—learn how to minimize these expenses.

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Multi-state practice: You need active licenses in every state where patients are located. Malpractice insurance must cover telehealth across state lines. Each state has different requirements—California requires 12-24 months of ACGME training, New York mandates FCVS for non-LCME graduates, Florida requires electronic fingerprinting.

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Document quality matters: Save everything as PDFs with clear, descriptive filenames. Use a scanner or high-quality scanning app—phone photos get rejected regularly for poor quality.

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Step-by-step CAQH setup

Time needed: 45 minutes to 2 hours

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Block out a full evening when you're not rushed. The process demands attention to detail, and mistakes cost weeks of delays.

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Registration (5 minutes): Visit proview.caqh.org and create your account using your NPI number. Choose a memorable password—you'll be logging in regularly.

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Application sections (30-90 minutes): Work through these methodically: personal information, education history, specialties, practice locations, hospital affiliations, insurance coverage, work history, and disclosures. Each section builds on the previous one.

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People often stumble on work history. CAQH wants five years of employment records with references. That part-time hospital job you forgot about gets included. Employment gaps over 90 days require detailed explanations. Maternity leave, education, and health issues are completely acceptable.

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Pro tip: For psychiatrists adding treatments like Spravato or TMS to their practice, having your credentialing managed by specialists who understand these specific requirements can prevent months of delays and ensure you're ready to start treating patients immediately. Learn more about the complete credentialing process and timeline management in our comprehensive guide.

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Authorization (2 minutes): Select which organizations can access your data—typically insurance companies and any credentialing services you're using.

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First attestation (5 minutes): Review all entered information carefully and click "Attest" to certify accuracy. You can't undo this step once submitted.

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Document upload (10-30 minutes): Upload all documents from your checklist. Ensure PDFs are clear and readable.

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Final attestation (5 minutes): Review uploaded documents and complete your second attestation.

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Processing time: 48 hours for CAQH approval and confirmation.

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Understanding CAQH attestation

Attestation means you're legally certifying that every piece of information in your profile is true and accurate. This carries legal weight; providing false information can result in credentialing denials, practice sanctions, and potential legal consequences.

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First-time users attest twice: once after completing profile data and again after uploading documents.

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CAQH profile maintenance

‍Monthly monitoring is essential. Log in every month to check your profile shows "Complete" and "Authorized" status. This regular check helps you catch issues before they impact your revenue. Look for system alerts and address them immediately.

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Maintain personal control of your profile. While third-party credentialing services often offer to manage your CAQH maintenance, this common practice carries risk. When you delegate attestation to a third party handling hundreds of profiles, your updates can get lost in the volume. You remain legally responsible for the accuracy of your profile, regardless of who manages it. The financial consequences of a missed re-attestation—potentially tens of thousands in lost revenue—fall entirely on you, not the third party.

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Set calendar reminders 30 days before your licenses renew. Monitor malpractice insurance expiration dates. Track DEA registration renewals. The goal is updating documents before they expire, not scrambling afterward.

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Update information immediately when it changes. Moving your practice? Update your address right away. New phone number? Don't wait until re-attestation. Insurance companies use this information for provider directories.

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The 120-day re-attestation rule

Once your CAQH profile is active and you're receiving insurance payments, you must re-attest every 120 days (180 days in Illinois). Miss this deadline and your profile becomes inactive immediately—no grace period, no warning calls. Insurance companies lose access to your credentials, claims get rejected, and revenue stops. Some payers require complete re-credentialing, which takes months.

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Troubleshooting common CAQH issues

Profile status problems usually stem from missing information. An "Incomplete" status means required fields are empty or documents are missing. Check each section systematically. An "Unauthorized" status often indicates expired documents or unanswered disclosure questions.

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Document upload failures frustrate everyone. The system accepts PDFs only, file size limits vary by document type, and poor image quality triggers automatic rejection. Use the document quality standards mentioned in the preparation section.

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Getting help

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CAQH support: Call 1-888-599-1771 during business hours (Monday-Thursday 7 AM-9 PM EST, Friday 7 AM-7 PM EST). Live chat works through your ProView account. Before calling, screenshot error messages and note which section is problematic.

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Professional credentialing services: Cost $500-$2,000 for complete setup and ongoing management. Benefits include reduced errors, faster processing, and ongoing monitoring. Consider professional help if you have complex employment history, practice in multiple states, or prefer focusing on patient care.

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When evaluating billing and credentialing services, look for partners who understand psychiatry's unique requirements. For a complete evaluation framework, see our guide: How to Choose the Right Psychiatric Billing Service for Your Practice.

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What to do right now

If you're setting up CAQH for the first time: Gather your documents this afternoon. Register tonight. Complete your profile this week. Set a calendar reminder for 30 days before your licenses expire AND for 100 days from now to prepare for your first re-attestation.

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If you have an existing profile: Log in today and check your status. Verify your re-attestation date. Update any expired documents. Create a recurring monthly reminder to check your profile.

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For established practices: Implement quarterly CAQH audits for all providers. Assign someone to monitor deadlines. Create a shared document tracking system. Build redundancy so one person forgetting doesn't crash your revenue.

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CAQH credentialing isn't glamorous work. It's not why you became a psychiatrist. But it's the foundation that lets you practice independently and get paid for your expertise. Follow this guide and you’ll never be that colleague who loses $47,000 because of a missed deadline.

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Ready to build your insurance-based practice?

If you're accepting insurance for the first time or adding treatments like Spravato and TMS, the credentialing process is just the beginning. The real complexity comes afterward: managing prior authorizations, optimizing your collection rates, and handling the administrative burden that comes with insurance billing.

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Osmind specializes in helping psychiatrists navigate this entire transition. We handle your credentialing alongside setting up your psychiatry-tailored EHR and comprehensive revenue cycle management. Our approach means you're not just getting credentialed—you're building a complete practice infrastructure designed for psychiatric specialties.

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Here's what makes the difference:

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• Faster time-to-revenue: Our integrated approach gets you seeing patients 60-90 days sooner than managing credentialing and billing separately
• Specialized expertise: We handle complex prior authorizations for treatments like Spravato and TMS with 7-day turnaround times on average across payers
• Higher collection rates: Our psychiatry-focused billing achieves 95%+ net collection rates compared to the 85% industry average
• Reduced administrative burden: Automated processes like Spravato REMS handling save practices an average of $12,000 annually

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The bottom line: You can spend months learning to navigate credentialing, billing, and practice management systems yourself. Or you can partner with specialists who've already mastered these systems for leading psychiatric practices.

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Ready to focus on practicing psychiatry instead of managing paperwork? Let's talk about building your practice the right way from day one.

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Schedule your consultation today, and let’s build your dream practice.