De-Mystifying Insurance Credentialing

Go from feeling stressed out, overwhelmed, and confused to confident and at ease as you submit your credentialing applications to insurance companies (including HMSA).

Is this you?

You’ve noticed that Hawaii clients seeking therapy want to use their insurance, but the thought of dealing with insurance gives you anxiety.

There are so many insurance plans out there, so which ones do I sign up with? What is the process, and where do I even start? How much do they even pay, anyway?

Should I try to do this on my own, or do I need to hire someone to do this for me? I want to see clients, not deal with paperwork.

The good news is that you definitely can get credentialed with insurance plans on your own WITHOUT having to pay someone else to do it for you.

I N T R O D U C I N G

Many companies will charge you about $100-$300 per insurance plan that you want to become credentialed with. This could end up costing you hundreds or even thousands of dollars depending on how many insurance companies you get credentialed with. Even then, you still have to do a lot of legwork on your own.

However, after our time together for a one-time fee of $119, you’ll have: 

The reimbursement rates for all major insurance plans in Hawaii (including HMSA)

The applications for the major health insurance plans in Hawaii (including HMSA), so that you don’t have to spend hours hunting for them on the internet and then wondering if you’re doing it right.

A list of the other documents you’ll need to get credentialed with the major insurance plans in Hawaii (including HMSA), the processes involved, and the people to contact

MORE confidence and LESS anxiety as you go through the credentialing process so that you can fill your practice with your ideal clients

You will get all of this instantly instead of having to search for this information on the internet for hours. A recording of the workshop will be emailed to you immediately upon purchase.

I can't wait to see you there!

Hi, I’m Jessica!

I'm an LCSW and solo private practice owner in Hawaii who started my private practice in 2021. I provide trauma therapy and faith-based therapy, and I am about 95% insurance-based. I credentialed myself with 13 insurance companies in Hawaii, and I have helped other private practice owners to do so as well. In my free time, I enjoy spending time with my husband, mom, son, daughter, and friends at every chance I get.

What my clients are saying…

  • "Jessica has been very helpful as I waded through the heaps of documents-gathering involved in credentialing. Often it was just hearing me in self-doubt which let me nudge forward another step. Malpractice insurance, what are EINs and NPIs and how do I get those? I am happily credentialed now. Mahalo for your help and patience, Jessica!"

    Diane A. 

  • "Jessica is kind, thoughtful, and incredibly patient. She has so much knowledge about insurance credentialing as well as how the unique Hawaii systems work. She is constantly working to improve her own practice while simultaneously being invested in the growth of other clinicians. I am so happy to have connected with her! We may be on different islands but I have certainly found a wonderful and reliable colleague."

    Sarina P.

  • "Jess truly is the local expert in Hawaii on all things insurance and credentialing. She really explains the credentialing process in a way that is easy to digest and implement. If you feel at all overwhelmed by what is required to get paneled with insurance, I highly recommend you consider reaching out to Jess. We are very lucky to have such a knowledgeable (and kind) helper. She is an excellent guide for both new and seasoned therapists alike."

    Justin M.

Let’s get you credentialed so you can start seeing more clients and start getting paid!

Once you’ve learned which forms you need, which people to contact, and which plans to get credentialed with, the process can even feel easy!

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Many clients in Hawaii want to use their insurance for therapy sessions. In fact, in a survey I did on April 5, 2024 among 40 therapists, 88% of them said that their Hawaii-based caseloads were at least 80% insurance based! So, if you want your Hawaii-based caseload to be at least halfway full, it would really benefit you to accept at least a few insurance plans.

  • However, I typically discourage people from hiring credentialing services for several reasons:

    👉 You’re paying someone a lot of money to do something you were actually able to do back in high school.

    If you’ve ever filled out a paper job application, especially for minimum wage jobs, then I promise you- you have the skills that it takes to complete insurance credentialing applications. Yes, it’s tedious and somewhat time-consuming, but it’s definitely doable.

    Just to put it into context- when I did my own insurance credentialing for my private practice, I was working at a group practice that required me to see 35-40 clients a week (yikes), and my children were 3-years-old and 17 months old at the time. I was definitely busy! So, I worked on insurance credentialing applications during their naptime for one day per week for one month (i.e. a total of about 4 naptimes). While your structure and life might look a little different, I share this as a tangible example of how easy it is to complete insurance credentialing applications no matter how busy you are.

    👉 The credentialing companies often don’t do it right, or they miss steps, or you feel lost with regards to where your credentialing applications are at in the process.

    I know several therapists who paid a credentialing company $110-$300 per credentialing application. From there, the therapists still had to do a lot of legwork themselves either due to missing steps, or because of the company not following up with the provider properly.

    👉 Several companies will only do your credentialing if you also agree to let them do your billing.

    Just like credentialing, you can easily do your own billing. Many EHRs can help you to do your own billing easily.

  • A lot of therapists who start working in Hawaii after working in other states share this one! I want to assure you that, while insurance audits and claw backs do happen in Hawaii, they’re not that common. To put it in perspective, I knew of a therapist with over 15 years of private practice experience in Hawaii who only ever got audited 3 times- and none of those times really amounted to anything substantial.

  • As mentioned earlier, you can set aside about 30-45 minutes per insurance credentialing application (or about one hour for HMSA or Medicaid). If you credential yourself with 3 insurance companies, that’s just 1.5-3 hours total (or 3 weeks of 30-60 minutes per week if you want to space that time out a bit).

    If you look at this and still feel tempted to pay someone to do your insurance credentialing, let me ask you this – do you really want to pay someone $110-$300 to do something that only takes 30-45 minutes?!

While insurance credentialing applications can be found directly on the insurance company’s website (i.e. Provider Resource Center), sometimes it can still be hard to find individual insurance applications online, and it can also be hard to navigate those applications once we find them. This course is designed to help you to find the applications and instructions for those applications all in one place.