How can you get your insurance provider to sign up doctors as in-network?

If you have a particular doctor you would like to see and that doctor is not part of your health insurance in-network, you may still be able to see them under your regular coverage. Check the distance to the local in-network provider of that service to your home, and make sure that it is within the maximum coverage area specified for that particular field of coverage. If there is not a local in-network provider within the required area, you may be eligible to use your own specialist under your existing health coverage without any changes being made.

To have your doctor add to the in-network, you will need to contact your health insurance company and request that your doctor be added. They will examine the credentials of the doctor and contact her concerning joining the insurance network. The process is rather time-consuming, as the information has to pass from you to the proper health insurance representative, through company channels, and then on to your doctor. If you are pressed for time to get your doctor accepted, you might want to work the application from both sides.

Talk to your doctor about joining the network, and explain why doing so would be beneficial to you as a patient. Doctors are regularly invited to join insurance networks, and may not be responsive when contacted by the insurance company alone, but when that doctor is aware that doing so could be beneficial to one or more patients they are more willing to help speed things along. By acting as the intermediary between your doctor and the insurance company, you may be able to get him or her approved faster, taking some of the stress out of your efforts to get the medical care you need.