What is Beech Street?

Beech Street is a corporation that offers “...one of the largest PPO networks in the nation, comprehensive healthcare management services, and an array of cost containment products and services that provide a total solution for our clients and their members.” According to their website they are “Always Exceptional. No Exceptions.”

One would assume that they credential all of their providers carefully. Here, in fact, is a quote from a Beech Street customer representative, in response to a question concerning board-certification and recredentialing:

[These are quotes from original documents, which can be made available upon request at: [email protected]]

“Yes, all doctors that are participating with Beech Street are board certified physicians. We have a 2-4 month credentialing period to ensure correct information and participation eligibility. We also
re-credential all of our physicians every 3 years.”

How do they re-credential their doctors?:

“We do not do credentialing in house. We outsource this service to a company called Ingenix/Aperture. Mandatory information needed to keep the providers contract valid will be either given from the provider or the provider will be termed.”

Ingenix was then asked if they had provided the credentialing for a specific doctor, as Beech Street indicated was the case. Here’s what Ingenix wrote: “This fax will confirm that...Aperture Ingenix never did the credentialing for [...] with Beech Street insurance.”

Maybe, in this case, Beech Street did the credentialing itself?

As of June, 2010 - these were the expiration dates of the most recent documents they had for this doctor: July, 1994; December, 1994; and August, 1995.

The most recent documents on file were - 15 years old?

Beech Street’s position is that they have met all of their contractual obligations.

Is that the credentialing that one would expect from Beech Street? Is that how they usually do their credentialing?

“Always Exceptional. No Exceptions.”