A provider can't bill until they're
credentialed and enrolled.
Knack’s credentialing experts and 1stCred, our proprietary credentialing engine, get it right the first time — so revenue is never left on the table.
Expert credentialing staff, not generalists
1stCred — proprietary credentialing engine
End-to-end: new enrollments, renewals & maintenance
Specialties credentialed across
Providers credentialed on our platform
Secure cloud access — anywhere
25 yrs
of credentialing experience
Among the nation's largest
credentialing & RCM companies
U.S.-based
account managers on every account
Anesthesia
DME & HME
Eye care
Hospitals & health systems
Practices & ASCs
Multi-specialty
Enrollment backlogs
cost revenue. We
eliminate them.
Credentialing delays are one of the most avoidable sources of revenue loss in healthcare. A single provider sitting unenrolled can mean weeks of denied claims and deferred cash. Knack RCM acts as a true extension of your team — pairing credentialing specialists with 1stCred, our AI-assisted credentialing engine — to accelerate enrollment, track expirables, and keep your provider roster continuously compliant.
What makes us different?
- U.S.-based, dedicated account managers — an extension of your team, not just software
- End-to-end payer enrollment — from application to first paid claim
- 1stCred — proprietary, AI-assisted credentialing and enrollment platform
- Multi-specialty, multi-state capability
- Hospital privileging and CVO-style credentialing support, plus mergers & acquisitions (M&A) credentialing depth
- Credentialing performed to NCQA, Joint Commission and CMS standards
- Proactive expirable tracking, renewal management and monthly sanction/exclusion monitoring
The full credentialing lifecycle
— one accountable partner
Licensing comes first — before a single enrollment can start
A provider can’t enroll with a payer until they’re licensed in the state and hold current DEA and controlled-substance registrations. For multi-state and telehealth growth, we run licensure expansion end to end — including the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact.
- Initial state medical license applications
- License renewals and continuous license maintenance
- DEA registration and state Controlled Substance Registration (CSR)
- Multi-state licensure expansion for telehealth and growth
- Interstate Medical Licensure Compact (IMLC) applications
- License and DEA verification against primary sources
- New provider enrollment with all major payers
- DataSpring (aka CAQH) profile set-up and ongoing attestation management
- Insurance application tracking with payer follow-up
- Medicare and Medicaid enrollment (PECOS, state portals)
- Onboarding new providers for group practices, hospitals and ASCs
- Re-enrollment management after practice acquisitions or mergers
End-to-end enrollment from application to first paid claim
New providers, new locations, new payers — we run the full enrollment workflow so your roster generates revenue as early as possible.
Accuracy at the foundation — so payers never have a reason to deny
Every credential verified at its source, every document versioned and current — the discipline that keeps applications clean and committees confident.
- Primary source verification (PSV) for all credentialing requirements
- DEA, board certification, malpractice and license verification
- Document storage and version control in 1stCred
- System-generated reminders for all expirables — licenses, DEA, malpractice, board certifications
- Renewal management across licenses, DEA and board certifications — no lapses, no revenue gaps
- Payer re-credentialing cycles managed proactively
- DataSpring (aka CAQH) profile maintenance and 90–120-day attestation
- Roster updates for acquisitions, departures and new practice locations
- Ongoing compliance monitoring across all enrolled providers
- Monthly sanction and exclusion monitoring, aligned with 2025 NCQA standards
- Full reporting and audit trail in 1stCred
Full M&M — credentialing is not a one-time event, so we keep it current
Licenses lapse, payers re-credential, rosters change. Full M&M manages the entire lifecycle proactively, so no expiration ever opens a revenue gap.
Beyond the lifecycle — the credentialing work others treat as an afterthought
Hospital privileging & CVO
A primary reason hospitals and ASCs hire us — not a sub-feature
- Hospital and ASC privileging support
- Committee-packet preparation and follow-through
- CVO-style credentialing support
- Delegated credentialing support
- Reappointment and re-privileging cycles
Mergers & acquisitions (M&A) credentialing
Project-scoped credentialing for roll-ups, multi-site deals and PE-backed groups
- Bulk provider onboarding for acquired practices
- Payer re-enrollment and contract migration post-close
- Roster consolidation across acquired entities
- Tax-ID and group re-enrollment management
- Due-diligence support on credentialing exposure
Credentialing depth you
can build a roster on
Multi-specialty depth
Credentialing across 30+ specialties: anesthesia, DME, eye care, hospitals, multi-specialty practices and ASCs. One partner for your entire provider roster.
1stCred — built for this
Not a generic credentialing tool. 1stCred is Knack’s proprietary platform, purpose-built for complex provider environments — with a client portal for full transparency and self-service reporting.
Proactive, not reactive
Expirable tracking and automated renewal alerts mean credentialing lapses don’t happen. We catch re-credentialing windows before payers do.
Client results and revenue-leadership thinking
Find out how much your enrollment process is costing you.
A single provider left unenrolled for 120 days can cost roughly $122,000. Share your provider count, specialties and states — and we’ll show you exactly where Knack and 1stCred can eliminate delays and protect your revenue.
Specialists across 30+ specialties
1stCred — proprietary credentialing engine
Multi-state capability
What is provider credentialing -
and why it matters for revenue ?
In short
Provider credentialing verifies a provider's qualifications — education, training, licensure, certifications, malpractice history — directly against primary sources. Enrollment is the separate, payer-specific process of registering a provider with each payer so their services can be billed; many payers perform their own verification as part of that process, so the two can proceed independently. Either way, a provider cannot be paid by a given payer — commercial, Medicare, or Medicaid — until enrollment with that payer is complete.
Provider credentialing is the process by which a healthcare organization verifies a provider’s qualifications — education, training, licensure, board certifications, malpractice history — directly against primary sources. It confirms the provider is qualified to deliver care and is often required by hospitals, health systems and credentialing committees ahead of enrollment.
Enrollment is a distinct, payer-specific process: submitting a provider’s information to each payer and obtaining an in-network contract or participation agreement. Credentialing and enrollment are related but independent — many payers perform their own verification as part of the enrollment application, so enrollment doesn’t always require a separate credentialing engagement first. What’s true either way: a provider generally can’t generate billable revenue with a given payer until enrollment with that payer is complete.
Delays in credentialing or enrollment create a direct revenue gap. A single provider left unenrolled for 120 days can represent roughly $122,000 in deferred or denied reimbursement — which reframes credentialing from a back-office task into a CFO-level revenue issue. Proactive, technology-assisted credentialing prevents that gap from opening.
How provider credentialing
works — step by step
Five stages, run in parallel across every payer a provider will bill — with 1stCred tracking each one.
01
Collect & verify provider data
Gather everything each payer application needs — provider demographics, NPI, tax ID, practice locations — and perform primary source verification on required documents: medical degree, residency, licensure, DEA registration, board certifications, malpractice insurance.
02
Complete payer applications
Submit accurate, complete applications to each payer (commercial, Medicare, Medicaid) the provider will bill. Track application status with each payer.
03
DataSpring (aka CAQH) attestation
Set up and maintain the CAQH ProView profile, which most commercial payers require. Manage attestation on the 120-day renewal cycle.
04
Payer processing & follow-up
Follow up with payers proactively to prevent processing delays. Resolve missing information requests and obtain effective dates.
05
Ongoing maintenance
Monitor all expirables, manage re-credentialing windows, update rosters on acquisitions or departures, maintain full audit trail in 1stCred.
1stCred — the credentialing
engine behind Knack
1stCred is Knack’s proprietary, cloud-based credentialing and enrollment platform — built for the complexity of multi-specialty, multi-state provider organizations. Unlike generic credentialing tools, 1stCred is purpose-designed around the workflows Knack’s credentialing teams execute every day.
Credential management
Centralised storage of all provider credentials, with version control and document expiry tracking.
Application tracking & status reporting
Real-time visibility into where every payer application stands, with payer-specific status updates.
Expirable alerts & renewal workflow
System-generated reminders for licenses, DEA, malpractice, board certifications and re-credentialing cycles — before they lapse.
Role-based access & audit trail
Secure, role-based access controls for hospital credentialing committees, practice managers and billing teams, with a full audit trail.
— FAQ
Provider credentialing
& enrollment, answered
Straight answers to the questions practice administrators, hospitals and revenue leaders ask most.
What is provider credentialing?
Provider credentialing is the process of verifying a healthcare provider's qualifications — including education, training, licensure, board certifications, and malpractice history — to confirm they are qualified to deliver care. It is required by hospitals, health systems, and insurance payers before a provider can be approved to treat patients and bill for services.
What is the difference between credentialing and enrollment?
Credentialing verifies a provider's qualifications against primary sources. Enrollment is the separate, payer-specific process of registering a provider with each payer to obtain an in-network contract or participation agreement — many payers perform their own verification as part of that process, so enrollment doesn't always require a separate credentialing engagement first. The two are related but independent: a provider generally can't bill a given payer until enrollment with that payer is complete, regardless of which process came first.
How long does provider credentialing and enrollment take?
Payer enrollment typically takes 60 to 120 days per payer, and can run longer when applications are incomplete or payer follow-up is passive. Because a provider generally cannot bill until enrollment is complete, every avoidable week of delay is deferred revenue. Complete applications, current CAQH attestation and proactive payer follow-up are the biggest levers for shortening the timeline.
What is DataSpring (aka CAQH) and why does it matter?
DataSpring (aka CAQH) — historically branded CAQH ProView, rebranded to DataSpring in 2026 — is the online provider-data profile that most commercial payers use to source credentialing information. The profile must be kept current and re-attested on a cycle of roughly 90 to 120 days; a lapsed attestation stalls new applications and re-credentialing. Maintaining DataSpring (aka CAQH) every 90-120 days is an important part of ensuring your enrollments are accurate.
What is primary source verification (PSV)?
Primary source verification means confirming each credential directly with the organization that issued it — the medical school, residency program, state licensing board, DEA and certifying boards — rather than accepting copies from the provider. Hospitals, health systems and credentialing committees rely on PSV because it's the only reliable defense against inaccurate or fraudulent credentials. It isn't a prerequisite payers require before accepting an enrollment application, though — most payers run their own verification internally once an application is filed.
What happens if a provider's credentials or enrollment lapse?
A lapsed license, DEA registration, malpractice policy or missed re-credentialing window can pause the provider's network participation — claims submitted during the gap can be denied, and in many cases that revenue cannot be recovered. Proactive expirable tracking with system-generated renewal alerts prevents lapses before they open a revenue gap.
What is 1stCred?
1stCred is Knack RCM's proprietary, cloud-based credentialing and enrollment platform. It centralizes credential storage with version control, tracks every payer application in real time, and generates alerts for expirables and re-credentialing cycles. Clients get a dedicated portal for full transparency into the work — weekly reports go out automatically, and clients can run their own reports inside the portal any time — purpose-built for multi-specialty, multi-state provider organizations.
Get credentialing right — from day one
Share your provider count, specialties and states — and we’ll show you exactly where Knack and 1stCred can eliminate enrollment delays and protect your revenue.