PMHNP Credentialing Services for Psychiatric Nurse Practitioners

Medtransic handles PMHNP credentialing for psychiatric nurse practitioners who are opening a practice, joining a group or adding a state. We enroll you in Medicare through PECOS, file each commercial application on the right nurse practitioner track, keep your CAQH profile attested and line up the collaboration papers payers ask for. It costs $150 per application, per provider. In our experience it usually takes 60 to 90 days with each payer. You follow every application in your client portal.

Last reviewed 2026-10-04.

Why PMHNP applications stall

A nurse practitioner file carries checks a physician file does not, such as national certification and collaboration. Here are the gaps to close first, each tied to a published rule.

  1. The NPI record says the wrong kind of nurse practitioner

    The national taxonomy list has a separate entry for a psychiatric/mental health nurse practitioner. If your NPI record still carries a general or family nurse practitioner entry, payers and their directories can list you under the wrong specialty. We fix the record before any application goes out.

  2. Filed on the wrong track at Aetna

    Aetna credentials nurse practitioners on two tracks: as a primary care provider or as a specialist. Each track has its own criteria. An application built for one track can fail the other track's checks.

  3. Collaboration that cannot be shown on paper

    Where your state requires a collaborating physician, Aetna can ask for documents from that physician. The papers must cover any state-required prescribing supervision and any state-required collaboration on practice. So the agreement needs to be in writing, and your physician needs to be ready to back it up.

  4. A new state with no license or DEA registration

    Aetna requires a license in every state where the members you treat by telehealth are located. DEA requires a separate registration in each state where you prescribe controlled medications. Adding patients in a new state can mean both, before the first visit.

  5. A CAQH profile left to lapse

    Commercial payers read your CAQH profile, and it must be re-attested every 120 days (180 in Illinois). A lapsed attestation can leave an otherwise complete application waiting.

What we file, and what stays in your name

What we run

What stays with you

Your EHR shows what you billed. Your portal shows what we are doing about it.

Your EHR or practice management system runs your practice, but it does not show you our work. The Medtransic HIPAA Compliant Portal does: every claim and its current stage, the denials we are working, your A/R by age, each payer application and its in-network date, and the documents we still need from you. It is the same record our team works from, and it comes with every client account.

Did that claim get paid?

Every claim with its stage and amount, the denials we're working, and your receivables by age.

Where is my application with Aetna?

Each payer application shows its stage, its history, and the date you can start seeing that payer's patients.

What do you still need from me?

One list of the documents we're waiting on. Upload once, and it reaches every payer that asked for it.

It works in any browser, on your desk or your phone. iPhone and Android apps are coming soon. See the client portal.

Collaboration: what your state, Medicare and Aetna each expect

Three different rule makers can ask about your collaborating physician. We read all three before we file, because a gap in any one stalls the file.

Your state sets the baseline. AANP groups states into full, reduced and restricted practice. In reduced practice states, state law requires a career-long collaborative agreement. In restricted practice states, it requires career-long supervision, delegation or team management; AANP's state practice map, listed in our sources, shows where your state sits.

Medicare follows state law. Medicare covers nurse practitioner services given in collaboration with a physician, as your state allows. Our PMHNP practices page explains how that plays out day to day.

Aetna adds a network test. If your state requires a supervising or collaborating physician, Aetna requires that physician to be Aetna-participating and board-certified. A physician outside Aetna's network does not meet the rule, however good the agreement is.

The agreement must last the whole contract. Aetna expects the agreement, or a replacement, to stay in place for the whole term of your contract. If your physician retires or leaves, line up the replacement before the old agreement ends.

From first form to in network, step by step

We build one file per PMHNP and reuse it for every payer, so Medicare and each commercial plan see the same facts.

  1. Medicare's nurse practitioner qualifications

    Medicare asks for an RN license and state authorization to practice as a nurse practitioner. If you first got Medicare billing privileges on or after January 1, 2003, you also need national certification and a master's in nursing or a Doctor of Nursing Practice. We gather proof of each up front.

  2. NPI record checked

    Your NPI comes first, since Medicare enrollment needs an active one. We confirm the record lists the psychiatric/mental health nurse practitioner entry, not a family or general one.

  3. Medicare enrollment in PECOS

    You enroll as an individual nurse practitioner, online in PECOS, Medicare's enrollment system. If you see patients only by telehealth and your home is your only practice location, Medicare requires you to list it. You can mark it as a home office for administrative or telehealth use only, which keeps the address off Care Compare, and this is now permanent policy.

  4. CAQH profile complete and attested

    We load your license, certification, education, malpractice and work history. Then we re-attest every 120 days so the profile is current whenever a payer reads it.

  5. Commercial applications on the right track

    For each payer you choose, we read its current nurse practitioner criteria and pick the track that matches your work. At Aetna that means primary care or specialist, plus the collaborating physician documents if your state requires one.

  6. DEA registration for each state

    If you prescribe controlled medications, you need a DEA registration in each state where you practice. Through December 31, 2026, the current end date as checked on October 4, 2026, DEA lets registered practitioners prescribe these by telemedicine without a prior in-person exam when its conditions are met. Our PMHNP practices page covers what to watch for in 2027.

  7. Keeping the file current

    Medicare requires enrolled practitioners to report changes, such as a new practice location or a change of ownership, within set deadlines. We file those updates, and the matching payer updates, when you move or add a state.

Credentialing is $150 per application, per provider. In our experience it usually takes 60 to 90 days with each payer. Your client portal shows each application and its stage and the documents we need from you; it is included with every client account.

What Medicare and Aetna check on a PMHNP

Medicare

An RN license, state authorization as a nurse practitioner and, for anyone first enrolled since January 1, 2003, national certification plus a master's in nursing or a DNP. Enrollment is individual, in PECOS, with an active NPI.

Aetna, nurse practitioner as specialist

You must be a registered nurse with at least a master's in nursing and graduate education in the specialty you are applying for. You also need board certification recognized by your state or by an Aetna-approved accrediting agency.

Aetna, collaborating physician

Where the state requires one, an Aetna-participating, board-certified physician, under an agreement that lasts the whole contract term. Aetna can ask for documents showing the agreement covers prescribing and practice.

Aetna, telehealth across state lines

A license, registration and any certification required in every state where the members you treat by telehealth are located. A PMHNP licensed in one state cannot treat Aetna members in another state by telehealth on that license alone.

When we are not the right call

If you have not yet passed your national certification or received your nurse practitioner license, there is nothing to file yet. Come back when both are in hand.

If you plan to stay cash-pay and never join a panel, you do not need credentialing. And if your question is whether your state lets you practice without a physician, that is a scope-of-practice question for your board of nursing or a lawyer; we file what your state and each payer require, but we do not give legal advice.

If you are already in network and only need claims handled, see our PMHNP practices page for billing instead.

Questions PMHNPs ask about credentialing

How long does PMHNP credentialing take?

In our experience it usually takes 60 to 90 days with each payer. Each payer runs its own review, so we track every application separately in your client portal.

What does PMHNP credentialing cost with Medtransic?

It is $150 per application, per provider. There is no long-term contract, and the client portal is included with every client account.

Should I apply to Aetna as a primary care nurse practitioner or a specialist?

Aetna runs the two as separate tracks with their own criteria. The specialist track asks for graduate education in the specialty and board certification. We match the track to the care you actually provide before we file.

Does my collaborating physician need to be in the payer's network?

At Aetna, yes, when your state requires a collaborating or supervising physician. That physician must be Aetna-participating and board-certified, and the agreement must last the whole contract term.

Do I need a DEA registration in every state where I see patients?

If you prescribe controlled medications, DEA requires a separate registration in each state where you practice. You also need a license in each state where your patients are.

I only see patients by telehealth from home. Will my address be public?

Medicare requires you to list your home as your practice location if it is your only one. You can mark it as a home office for administrative or telehealth use only, which keeps it off Care Compare.

Which NPI taxonomy should a PMHNP use?

The psychiatric/mental health nurse practitioner entry, not the family or general one. We check that your NPI record shows it before any application goes out.

Sources

Outside facts on this page were checked against these sources on the date shown.

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