Congratulations! You’ve graduated. All your hard work has finally paid off and you’re ready to start your career. But where should you begin? If you’ve ever wondered how to get a license or credentialed with vision plans or medical insurance, look no further.

My first piece of advice is to get licensed in every state where you might practice, even if it’s a long shot. For example, I grew up in Michigan but knew I wanted to move out-of-state, specifically to Colorado. It’s the only state I applied for a license and, thankfully, had very few hoops to jump through. I opened my cold-start private practice and was loving life! After six years, my husband and I were ready for a new adventure which brought us to North Carolina. If I could tell my new graduate self to do one thing, in hindsight, it would have been to go through the North Carolina State Boards process as soon after graduating as possible.

You will never be more prepared for these exams than right after school. All of the horrors you hear about getting licensed in North Carolina are accurate. While I respect the North Carolina Boards process and its desire to make sure our state sets a high standard of care for its doctors to meet, the examination is brutal and when studying every day isn’t part of your regular daily routine anymore, preparation is ominous. Do yourself a favor and get licensed in every state you think you might want to practice someday—the cost is insignificant in the long run and you will thank yourself down the road.

For a complete guide to getting licensed in all 50 states, click here for the April 2019 New Grad Optometry article.

Before you can begin credentialing, but after you get your license, there are several important provider numbers you will need to get started. The first number is your National Provider Identifier (NPI) which is a 10-digit number that you will use for the rest of your career. Register for your NPI by clicking here. The second step is to build your profile on the Counsel for Affordable Quality Healthcare (CAQH) which is the national database used by vision and medical companies to access your information in a secure portal. Click here to start building your CAQH profile.

So you have your license, NPI number, and your CAQH profile is complete—now what? It’s time to get credentials with vision plans and medical insurances. There are several companies who have professionally trained representatives who can get you credentialed. Depending on your setting, it’s likely worth the investment for medical insurances. It is easy to get credentialed with Vision plans such as VSP®, EyeMed®, and Superior Vision™, so I recommend doing these on your own.

For Blue Cross Blue Shield®, Aetna®, Humana®, and UnitedHealthcare®, I recommend hiring a firm. Credentialing can be a tedious process and if you don’t check every box or complete every item just right, your application is rejected and often you must start a several weeks to several month process all over again. If you’re going to try it on your own, my best advice is to DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT! For every call you make, it’s imperative take detailed notes. Record the date, the representative’s name, the call reference number, and all discussion information. Always organize notes according to insurance company.

At the end of the day, know that there are resources available to help you navigate this exciting time in your career!