What Is CAQH ProView? A Guide for Therapists

CAQH ProView is the universal credentialing database used by more than 90% of health insurers in the United States. As a therapist, completing your CAQH profile is usually the first step in getting credentialed with any major insurance plan.

What Is CAQH?

CAQH stands for the Council for Affordable Quality Healthcare. Its ProView platform is a centralized database where healthcare providers enter their credentialing data once, and then authorize participating insurers to access it. This eliminates the need to fill out identical applications for every payer.

Who Uses CAQH ProView?

Most major commercial insurers participate in CAQH ProView, including:

• Aetna
• Cigna
• UnitedHealthcare
• Humana
• Most Blue Cross Blue Shield state plans
• Many Medicaid Managed Care Organizations (MCOs)

Note: Medicare does not use CAQH ProView. Medicare enrollment is handled separately through the PECOS system.

What to Include in Your CAQH Profile

A complete CAQH profile requires:

• Personal and contact information — legal name, practice addresses, phone, fax
• Education and training — undergraduate, graduate degree(s), postdoctoral training, internship/residency
• Licensure — all current state licenses with expiration dates
• NPI — your Type 1 NPI number (see what is an NPI number)
• DEA registration — required if applicable; therapists without prescribing privileges can mark N/A
• Malpractice insurance — carrier name, policy number, coverage dates, per-occurrence and aggregate limits
• Work history — last 10 years of employment with no unexplained gaps
• Hospital affiliations — list any; therapists in private practice without hospital privileges can mark none
• Professional references — typically 3 peer references
• Disclosure questions — malpractice history, license sanctions, criminal history

How to Create Your CAQH Profile

1. Go to proview.caqh.org and click “Register”
2. Select your provider type (individual) and enter your NPI
3. CAQH will look up your NPI in the NPPES registry to pre-fill some fields
4. Complete all sections — incomplete profiles cannot be accessed by payers
5. Upload supporting documents (license, malpractice certificate, DEA if applicable)
6. Authorize specific payers to access your profile
7. Attest to the accuracy of the information

Re-Attestation Requirements

CAQH requires providers to re-attest their profile every 120 days. Re-attestation confirms that your information is still current. The process takes 5–10 minutes if nothing has changed — you review each section and confirm it is accurate.

Missing re-attestation causes your profile to go inactive. Payers cannot access an inactive profile, which will stall any pending credentialing or re-credentialing applications you have open. CAQH sends email reminders, but set your own calendar reminder 2 weeks before each deadline as a backup.

Common CAQH Errors That Delay Credentialing

• NPI mismatch — the name on your CAQH profile doesn't match your NPPES record exactly
• Expired documents — license or malpractice certificate dates are past
• Unexplained work history gaps — every gap of 30+ days must be explained
• Missing authorizations — you haven't authorized the target payer to access your profile
• Inactive profile — missed re-attestation deadline

CAQH and Credentialing

Once your CAQH profile is complete and attested, applying to panels becomes much faster. Most payers will send you a brief supplemental application that pulls the bulk of your data from CAQH. See the full guide on how to get credentialed with insurance for the complete paneling workflow.