Medicaid Mastery for Denver, CO, Professionals in Private Practice
For the past seven years, Khara of Croswaite Counseling PLLC has worked with mental health professionals in the Denver, CO, area and throughout Colorado to provide Medicaid training, consultation, and resources to confidently grow your caseload as a thriving business and private practice owner.
As of April 15th, Khara will be stepping back from her role as a Medicaid provider of 15 years and consultant of 7 years. Check back soon to grab the list of colleagues/consultants providing support on Medicaid matters as of April 15th!
Disclaimer: Neither Croswaite Counseling, PLLC nor Khara Croswaite Brindle are affiliated or employed by Colorado Medicaid. All materials provided are based on personal experience as a contracted Medicaid Mental Health Provider and are subject to change. Please visit the Colorado State Medicaid website for the latest information.
Thank you for your trust in me with Medicaid matters over the years! I've decided to step away from providing Medicaid consultation effective April 15th to pursue other passion projects. Here's a timeline of the shift for colleagues who may be asking:
Discontinuing Medicaid-specific consultation April 15th. Folks can grab spots in my calendar prior to April using this scheduling link.
Archiving Medicaid-specific online-courses May 5th. Folks can grab downloads and handouts in the courses before they disappear or by logging in to Kajabi.
I'm finalizing my list of Medicaid-competent colleagues who will carry the torch from April 15th onward to share with my community and appreciate your support!
Warmly,
Khara
Competency and Confidence for Colorado Medicaid Therapists
Not sure where to start? Check out our three steps infographic that outlines the process of credentialing with Colorado Medicaid, contracting with the appropriate entities, and exploring the paperwork requirements as an approved Medicaid Mental Health Provider.
Medicaid Credentialing in Colorado
You’ve decided Medicaid is the right fit for you! Where do you begin? We recommend starting credentialing early since it can take several months to get the full approval you need to start seeing clients in your practice.
Check out the Colorado State Medicaid site for additional information on the credentialing process. To save yourself time, you’ll want the following items checked off and ready to go before starting the State Medicaid application.*
1) Have a business name/LLC registered with the Colorado Secretary of State
2) Ensure you have NPIs as an individual and organization approved
Visit NPPES to complete the free process or update your existing information. Not sure if you have an NPI already from previous mental health work? Check it out at NPI Lookup dot org
3) Have a W9 filled out for your business and ensure its saved as a PDF and is signed and dated within the last six months
4) Have a voided check or bank letter for your business at the ready
5) Have a digital copy of your liability/malpractice insurance handy
6) Have your most recent copy of your professional license in PDF form
7) Have your EIN IRS letter ready to upload!
Move from Misery to Mastery with Medicaid
Want to see how the credentialing application for Colorado Medicaid works? Grab our Medicaid Credentialing in Colorado on-demand webinar where we explore the application in detail. Includes identifying the full list of materials needed to apply, recognizing the common errors for a returned application to save you time and energy, and allows you to see the application in real time to know what to expect.
* This is an overview of the Colorado Medicaid Credentialing process and is subject to change. Khara Croswaite Brindle of Croswaite Counseling, PLLC presents a perspective that is her personal experience credentialing team members since 2015 and helping other professionals through individualized, professional consultation. If you have a question that may impact credentialing of your practice or organization, contact State Medicaid directly for advice on specific next steps.
Access Credentialing Confidence Now!
Click the image to purchase this on-demand course!
What’s next? Start your application process with the Colorado RAEs to serve a diverse population of clients around the state.
Take a look at the map above to identify which RAEs you might want to contract with based on your practice location. Is your practice located in the Denver Metro area?
Exploring the application process with Colorado Access/RAEs 3/5 and Colorado Community Health Alliance (CCHA) RAEs 6/7might be a good place to start!
Medicaid Mastery in Private Practice (Colorado)
You’ve done it! You received approval from the State of Colorado and have your contracts from various RAEs that confirm your start date! With these documents in your grasp, you’ve got the green light to start accepting Medicaid members into your practice.
But wait, isn’t there some significant paperwork to do to work with a Medicaid client? Yes there is. No need to feel discouraged. We’ve got you covered!
Grab our online course Medicaid Mastery in Private Practice. With this NBCC approved 1.0 CE Hour on-demand course, we take the madness out of Medicaid and replace it with Mastery! Feel confident in the Medicaid process and be audit-ready with this on-demand course for Colorado Clinicians. Includes templates, handouts, and helpful hints for success as a Mental Health Medicaid Provider in Private Practice.
Our most popular online course, hear what others have to say about it:
“Loved the training. Great refresher course. It’s very important to keep up with Medicaid compliance and apply same compliance to all clients/insurances to ensure all important concepts are in place. This training was short and to the point; extremely helpful for note and treatment planning.....Thanks a mil! ”
“Enjoyed this course and all the practical examples and tips you gave to keep in compliance with Medicaid.”
Access the on-demand Medicaid course now!
Click the image to access the on-demand course now!
Need a Medicaid Check Up?
Grab our free download of an (internal or team) audit checklist to feel confident in your Medicaid paperwork and process!
Still feeling unsure? Schedule a Professional Consultation with Khara to review your EHR and systems for Medicaid compliance or schedule a live webinar review to enhance the confidence and competence of your group practice therapy team!
Navigating Notes for Medicaid Compliance
You are well on your way to serious success with Medicaid as a mental health provider! You’ve taken the Medicaid Mastery course to identify The Super Six documents for Medicaid compliance as a mental health professional in Colorado. Your caseload is growing rapidly and you’re enjoying the client work. Your practice is feeling full and you are barely keeping up with all the calls as you are in high demand! However, the paperwork is piling up. After all, our calling in mental health work is about people, not paperwork.
Writing Medicaid Notes in 5 Minutes or Less!
Notes are creeping into your weekends and it makes you want to scream. No need to stress, we’ve got you covered! How does simplifying your notes sound? Writing a Medicaid-compliant note is so easy with an Electronic Health Record (EHR). We’ve streamlined things for it to take you five minutes or less to write a note!
Want to learn more about this magic? Grab our recorded webinar CO Medicaid Compliant Treatment Plans and Notes to build your templates for fast and easy writing.
Here’s what our community has to say about this resource:
“Thanks for this course! Really good solid concrete advice that will be sure to improve my treatment plans and notes!”
“Just wanted to say I took the Medicaid notes and treatment planning module And it was SO helpful. I’ve been drowning in notes so I really appreciated it!!!”
“I actually referred one of my supervisees to this course a few weeks ago!! Thanks for offering this!”
Access the On-Demand Medicaid Webinar Now!
Click the image to purchase this course now!
What about Substance Use Disorder (SUD) or Co-Occurring Treatment and Medicaid in COlorado?
Khara is grateful to colleague and mental health leader Alex Castro Croy, who collaborated on our latest webinar to speak to SUD requirements with Medicaid while STILL writing your notes in 5 minutes or less. Grab the on-demand webinar below!
Medicaid Provider Maintenance
Time flies when you are rocking it as a Medicaid Provider! In fact, maybe 5 years have flown by. Colorado State Medicaid requires revalidation every five years as an active provider so expect an email notifying you when it’s time to start the revalidation process.
Do you feel a tension headache coming on? Revalidation is very similar to the State Medicaid Application and is hopefully a bit more painless to complete. So grab your essential oils and have the following documents ready to upload in your application:
1) W9 filled out for your business, signed and dated within the last six months
2) Latest copy of your liability/malpractice insurance handy
3) Most recent copy of your professional license ready to upload
Check out our free video tutorial walking through the revalidation process so you know what to expect!
Finding your medicaid family
You’ve made it to the end of this robust resource page for Medicaid Providers! It takes perseverance to navigate the process but the reward of serving your ideal clients makes it worth it! Want to celebrate with people who get it?
Join the Colorado Medicaid Mental Health Providers Facebook group to access over 1600 professionals in the Medicaid Family! A place for additional Medicaid resources, highlighting Medicaid changes, and finding referrals, I’m proud to be a part of a network that supports one another. It’s why we lovingly call it the Medicaid family.
Join us in the Facebook group and familiarize yourself with all it has to offer. Medicaid has taken your practice to the next level! Now it’s time to celebrate your successes with your Medicaid family!
Referrals with Ease Thanks to Therapeasy
Feeling full? You’ll want to know who out there to refer to when you can’t fit in any more Medicaid clients on your caseload. The Colorado Medicaid Mental Health Providers Facebook group is proud to partner with Therapeasy, a local online directory helping clients and community members find mental health professionals!
Therapeasy recognizes the difficulty of finding a good-fit provider and they want to help the Medicaid community streamline the process! Grab a 50% EXCLUSIVE DISCOUNT for Medicaid providers and learn more about them and their directory of Colorado mental health professionals now!
Passionate about Medicaid Accessibility?
Consider joining the advocacy efforts of COMBINE Colorado Medicaid Behavioral Health Network to support access to care for Medicaid members and fair practices for providers! Learn more about their current efforts at https://combinebh.org/
Baffled by Medicaid Billing?
Help! My claims aren’t being processing to get paid by Medicaid!
In providing consultation to colleagues wishing to take Medicaid in their practice, this concern comes up a lot. Let’s take a look at common errors that can be corrected to get you back on track and paid for your therapy hours!
1. Are you credentialed at the State level of Medicaid as well as the RAE for the member you are trying to bill?
It’s possible that folks get the good news from State Medicaid that they can see Medicaid clients but don’t realize there’s another step of contracting with the RAEs. Any RAE you aren’t contracted with won’t pay you for services billed.
2. Is box #32 on your CMS1500 form filled out for your business?
Having this box be blank could kick back a claim in not having a service facility location. The exception is for telehealth services, which would just populate #32a as the service/organizational NPI which is required.
3. Are you billing the correct payor?
For Colorado Access RAEs 3/5, the payor ID is COACC Access Behavioral Care. Folks have been known to pick the HMO descriptor, which is not the correct payor for mental health/behavioral health services.
4. Are you an Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) billing a Medicaid member who has Medicare primary and Medicaid secondary?
LPCs are able to see Medicare members as of January 2024. You’ll need to bill Medicare first before billing Medicaid secondary.
Need more to feel masterful with Medicaid?
Schedule a Professional Consultation with Khara to enhance confidence and competence within your practice!
What about counselors taking Medicare?
Licensed Professional Counselors are set to be able to panel and accept Medicare in 2024. Be prepared by taking the Medicare Credentialing Course with trusted colleague Gabrielle Juliano-Villani.
Below is my affiliate link in support of Gabrielle’s course content in all things Medicare!