Earn the right to credential your own.
We prepare virtual and multi-state behavioral health groups for NCQA Credentialing Accreditation, so payers can delegate credentialing to you instead of making every clinician wait in their queue.
Why Delegate
Every new clinician waits on each payer's credentialing queue. Delegation lets you credential your own clinicians, but payers want proof your process meets NCQA standards. Most NCQA consultants serve health plans, not fast-growing virtual groups.
Built for telehealth behavioral health groups and MSOs with 50 or more clinicians, and credentialing verification organizations.
How it works
- 1
Gap assessment
We compare your current credentialing process against the standards and price the work to close each gap.
- 2
Readiness program
Policies, committee structure, file audits and a mock survey over roughly 9 to 12 months.
- 3
Survey and after
We support survey submission, then keep files audit-ready through recredentialing cycles.
What's included
- Standards gap analysis and work plan
- Credentialing policies and committee charter
- File audits and mock survey
- Survey tool preparation support
- Ongoing survey-ready retainer
- Virtual Care Accreditation readiness on request
Pricing
Clear prices, published up front.
Gap assessment
$7,500 one time
Credited toward the full program.
Readiness program
$35,000 to $60,000 per engagement
Typically 9 to 12 months, scoped to your gaps.
Survey-ready retainer
$2,000 to $4,000 per month
File audits, recredentialing and annual reporting.
Guides
Practical readiness guides for delegated credentialing and NCQA Credentialing Accreditation.
- Delegated credentialing for behavioral health groupsGuide
What delegated credentialing is, who qualifies, and how payers decide.
- NCQA Credentialing Accreditation explainedGuide
NCQA Credentialing Accreditation scope, numbered steps, timeline and fees to confirm.
- NCQA credentialing standards checklistChecklist
A practical NCQA credentialing standards checklist for policies, files and monitoring.
Key terms
Plain definitions for the words payers and NCQA use in credentialing.
- Delegated credentialing
- A health plan lets your organization credential your own clinicians under the plan's oversight, instead of sending every application through the plan's queue.
- NCQA Credentialing Accreditation
- A review of how an organization verifies and approves its clinicians. NCQA decides the outcome, and many payers treat it as strong evidence when considering delegation.
- Credentials verification organization (CVO)
- An outside organization that verifies credentials for you. Without delegation, the payer still makes the credentialing decision.
- Primary source verification
- Confirming licenses, education, board certification where relevant, sanctions and malpractice history with the issuing source or an accepted source, within the allowed time window before the committee decision.
- Credentialing committee
- A committee with clinical members that reviews clinician files and makes or recommends credentialing decisions, with minutes that record each decision.
- Pre-delegation audit
- The payer's review of your credentialing program and a sample of files before it grants delegation.
- Recredentialing
- Verifying and approving each clinician again on a set cycle, commonly every three years.
Questions
What is delegated credentialing?
Delegated credentialing is when a health plan lets your organization credential your own clinicians under the plan's oversight, instead of sending every application through the plan's queue. Payers want proof your process meets NCQA standards before they delegate.
Do you issue accreditation?
No. NCQA does, and NCQA decides the outcome. Delegate is an independent consultancy and is not affiliated with NCQA. We prepare you for its review through a gap assessment, a readiness program and survey support.
How long does NCQA Credentialing Accreditation take?
NCQA suggests starting about 12 months before your survey date. Groups with mature processes move faster. Our readiness program typically runs 9 to 12 months.
Are NCQA fees included?
No. NCQA charges its own application and survey fees. Our prices cover Delegate's work only: the gap assessment, the readiness program and the survey-ready retainer. Ask NCQA for its current fee schedule, since amounts change.
Why accreditation instead of outsourcing credentialing?
Accreditation gives you control of timelines and makes you an easier partner for payers. We will tell you honestly if outsourcing fits better.
What is the difference between delegated credentialing and a CVO?
A CVO verifies credentials for you. Under delegated credentialing, you make the credentialing decision under the payer's audit. Many groups use both: a CVO for verification while holding delegation themselves.
What should a credentialing committee charter include?
A clear purpose, membership rules, decision authority, written criteria, confidentiality and conflict-of-interest rules, meeting cadence, how decisions are recorded, monitoring duties, reporting and a yearly review. The committee reviews clinician files and makes or recommends credentialing decisions.
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