LOUISVILLE, Ky.—The National Association of Vision Care Plans (NAVCP) has attracted broad participation among eyecare providers for its Universal Credentialing Alliance (UCA), which went live nearly two years ago.

As of today, NAVCP reports, the program, designed to streamline the credentialing process and eliminate duplicative process for both vision care plans and eyecare professionals, has participation from 10 managed vision care plan companies. NAVCP also said that 45,000 eyecare providers will be credentialed/re-credentialed through UCA by the end of 2018. Approximately 75 percent of providers participating in the 10 member plans have been credentialed or re-credentialed to date through the UCA as of Oct. 2017.

As VMail reported, UCA went live on Dec. 1, 2015. UCA’s key objectives are to align the credentialing dates of providers that are shared across the networks of multiple MVC plans, drive out redundant primary source verification (PSV) cost for plans and reduce administrative workload for providers. The UCA features a common re-credentialing schedule, a single credentialing application format and gathering mechanism and a universal PSV approach, NAVCP noted.

Current participants in the NAVCP’s UCA plan include: AlwaysCare (now part of Unum), Davis Vision, EyeMed, eyeQuest, MESVision, National Vision, Spectera (a UHC company), Superior Vision, Vision Benefits of America and VSP Vision Care.

NAVCP’s spokesperson added, “All participating plans have reported that they are achieving administrative efficiencies through UCA. NAVCP continuously works with UCA participating members to identify opportunities for further administrative efficiency. More than two-thirds of providers recently surveyed said they would rate their overall experience with the NAVCP Credentialing Alliance as ‘excellent’ or ‘good.’”

The National Association of Vision Care Plans (NAVCP) is the unified voice for the managed vision care (MVC) industry. The association’s members cover approximately 53 percent (170 million) of all Americans by partnering with eyecare providers in all 50 states and Puerto Rico.