Become a Participating Provider

Ready to join our network? Here’s what comes next.

Navigate New Provider Step-by-Step Guide to Become a CareSource Health Partner

Thank you for your interest in becoming a participating CareSource provider. 

All providers and provider groups should follow the below step-by-step guide to assist you with this process. If you are unable to follow the below steps, please contact your Navigate Health Partner Engagement Specialist for assistance.

Please note: A provider must be fully enrolled and active with Indiana Health Coverage Programs (IHCP) prior to becoming a participating CareSource provider.

Please review the IHCP Navigate Network Effective Date Policy for requirements related to the onboarding process for Indiana Medicaid.

Step 1 – Contracting

Contracting is the process of the provider and Managed Care Entity (MCE) formally executing an agreement for the provider to deliver medical services that outlines reimbursement rates, scope of services, etc.

To initiate contracting, please complete the New Health Partner Contracting Form. This form consists of 4 tabs that will need to be completed.

  • Tab 1-Instructions: This tab provides instructions guiding you through the completion of tabs 2-4.
  • Tab 2-General Information: Please verify that the IRS name entered in tab 2 matches line 1 of your W-9. The IRS name will be used to create your contract.
  • Tab 3 – Provider(s). Enter practitioner data. This includes all rendering providers or providers enrolled, even if rendering providers are not required to enroll with Indiana Health Coverage Programs (IHCP). Rendering providers are defined as those providers who are performing the service for which a provider bills the Contractor or IHCP (i/e Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNA); Advanced Practice Nurses (APN) employed by physicians or are working in a physician directed group or clinic; Certified Physical Therapist Assistants, etc).
  • Tab 4-Submission: The following documents are required to be attached within tab 4.

Required Documents

Notification of an incomplete network participating request will be sent within five business days after receipt of initial request. An incomplete network participation request is defined as a request that CareSource cannot fully process due to missing/illegible documentation or information needed to write a contract.

Fill out the New Health Partner Contract Form to get started.

If you offer medical services and want more information about becoming a participating provider, please submit the New Health Partner Contract Form.

At CareSource, we work with our healthcare providers to ensure the highest quality of care for our members, and we are committed to making it easy for you and your staff to do business with us. Continue watching this module of the Provider Education Series to learn about the CareSource philosophy and process for becoming a new CareSource Health Partner.

Your Application Status

Once you submit your application, you will receive a confirmation email. Please save this email, as it will contain your Application ID.

Please note if contracting one of the following facility types, your request will be forwarded to a health partner contracting manager for processing:

  • Dialysis
  • Hospital (Acute, Behavioral, or Critical Access)
  • Hospice
  • Rehabilitation
  • Skilling Nursing
  • Substance Use Disorder

The Office Contact listed on the New Health Partner Contracting form will receive an email from their assigned Health Partner Contract Manager confirming receipt of their participation request. If any additional supporting documentation is needed to create the contract, it will be included in this email.

Step 2 – Get Credentialed

Credentialing refers to process of reviewing the qualifications and appropriateness of a provider to join the health plan’s network.

Providers who wish to contract with CareSource® must also be credentialed. Through credentialing, we check the qualifications and performance of physicians and other health care practitioners. Providers are recredentialed a minimum of every three years and are considered to be recredentialed unless otherwise notified.

Contracting and Recredentialing Process

Credentialing requirements and processes follow NCQA and the Indiana Office of Medicaid Policy and Planning (OMPP) guidelines. OMPP requires that you submit, to CareSource, a complete Council for Affordable Quality Healthcare (CAQH) application or CAQH number, National Provider Identifier (NPI) number and an active Indiana Medicaid ID.

Providers who require credentialing are:

  • Practitioners who are licensed, certified, or registered by Indiana Health Coverage Programs (IHCP) to practice independently (without direction or supervision). These provider types may include, but are not limited to: MD, DO, NP, PA, LCSW, DC, PSYD, LMFT, LPCC, etc.
  • Practitioners who have an independent relationship with CareSource. An independent relationship is defined when the organization directs its members to see a specific practitioner or group of practitioners, including all practitioners whom members can select as primary care practitioners. These provider types may include, but are not limited to: Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, and Pediatrics.
  • Practitioners who provide care to members under CareSource medical benefits, such as Dentists, Oral Maxillofacial Surgeons, Optometrists and Ophthalmologists.
  • Some Facilities and Organizational providers who contract with CareSource. These provider types may include, but are not limited to: Hospitals, Home Health Agencies, Skilled Nursing Facilities, Ambulatory Surgery Centers, Urgent Care Facilities, etc.

Providers who practice exclusively within the inpatient hospital setting and provide care for CareSource members only as a result of being directed to the hospital/facility do not need to be credentialed by CareSource unless otherwise noted. These provider types may include hospitalists, pathologists, radiologists, anesthesiologists and emergency room physicians.

CareSource will notify providers when an incomplete network participation request is received. Notification of an incomplete network participation request will be sent to providers within five (5) business days after receipt of the initial request. An incomplete network participation request is a request that CareSource cannot fully process because there is missing documentation or information needed to write a contract, etc. An incomplete network participation request also includes an unclean credentialing application, that contains at least one error and must be returned to the provider for correction, with a description of the deficiency. If the error was on the CAQH application, CareSource will specify the item on the application resulting in its status as unclean.

Common Credentialing Barriers

CareSource is unable to access your CAQH application.

To grant CareSource authorization please follow these steps:

  1. Log onto CAQH using your account information.
  2. Select the authorization tab.
  3. Make sure CareSource is listed as an authorized plan. If not, check the “Authorized” box to add.

Omission of the following documents within the CAQH application:

  • Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) certificate
  • Malpractice insurance face sheet
  • Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendment (CLIA) certificate, if applicable
  • Collaborative Practice Agreement, if applicable

Incomplete documents

All documents must be complete and current

Missing or Expired Documents

If there are missing/expired documents, you will receive a notification letter with instructions to correct and submit the updated information.

Step 3 – Enrollment

Provider enrollment refers to the process of loading a contracted and credentialed provider to all CareSource’s internal systems, loading for claims payment and loading to the provider directory (if applicable). Provider enrollment does not take place until the provider is fully approved and credentialed.

After a provider completes the contracting and credentialing process, CareSource works to load your information into our internal systems. You must complete the full provider enrollment process before you are considered a participating provider with CareSource.

Welcome Letter

Once the enrollment process is completed and your provider information has been added to the CareSource system and Provider Directory, CareSource will generate a welcome letter within five (5) business days. Your CareSource Welcome Letter will include important information, such as:

  • Network Effective Date
  • Enrolled Products
  • CareSource Provider ID
  • Additional instructions for claims submission
  • Contact information

Step 4 – Onboarding

Learn how to work with CareSource.

Welcome to the CareSource network! Once you receive your Welcome Letter from CareSource with your CareSource ID number, you have completed the contracting and credentialing process.

As you prepare to see CareSource members, we encourage you to familiarize yourself with our plan, tools and resources.

How to check your application status

You can check your application and credentialing status on the Provider Portal on the “Check Provider Enrollment” page. You will need to enter your NPI and Application ID. Check the Captcha checkbox and then click the “Check Status” button. The tool will allow you to view your status in the contracting, credentialing, and enrollment process as well as specific documents that may still be needed.

Contact Us

Need help? If you have additional general questions about getting contracted, please call CareSource’s Provider Services at 1-844-607-2831 or email us.

We are always looking for ways to improve our network. If you have any suggestions or would like to refer a provider to us, we want to hear from you. Share your ideas or referrals on the Access Opportunity Form.