Over 500,000 Health Care Providers Now Cutting Costs, Saving Time Through CAQH Administrative Simplification ...( Universal Credentialing Datasource(R...),Health

Universal Credentialing Datasource(R) Saving Millions by Eliminating Paper

Processes

WASHINGTON, Sept. 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- CAQH announced today that more than half a million U.S. providers are now significantly reducing administrative burden by using its Universal Credentialing Datasource (UCD) service to submit required information for credentialing and use in other business processes, such as provider directories.

According to estimates from a Medical Group Management Association cost analysis, UCD is effectively cutting provider administrative costs by more than $75 million per year or over 2.5 million man-hours (the equivalent of 1,250 full-time employees) -- the amount of time required to complete and send the application forms.

"Although this milestone seemed far off when we launched the initiative in 2002, we were pretty certain that UCD could bring needed efficiency and cost savings to provider credentialing," said Robin J. Thomashauer, CAQH executive director. "The growing number of providers, health plans, hospitals, managed care organizations (MCO) and states adopting UCD shows our instincts were correct."

CAQH estimates UCD has eliminated nearly 2 million legacy credentialing applications to date.

Launched in 2002, UCD allows registered physicians and other health professionals in all 50 states and the District of Columbia to enter credentialing information, including their Type I National Provider Identifier, into a single, uniform online application. Free to providers, this process meets the credentialing needs of most health plans, hospitals and other healthcare organizations.

The provider data-collection service streamlines the initial application and re-credentialing processes, and offers health organizations real-time access to reliable provider information for quality assurance and support services, such as directories and claims processing. All data submitted by
'/>"/>