Strategic Credentialing: Protection from Low Fees Starts on Day One

When a dentist acquires a practice, the big questions are easy to spot: What’s it worth? How is it financed? What does this mean for taxes?

But one early decision often flies under the radar—and quietly shapes profitability for years: credentialing.

Not just getting enrolled, but doing it strategically.

Credentialing sets the financial baseline of a practice. Done thoughtfully, it protects owners from low-paying contracts right from the start. Done casually, it can lock a practice into years of disappointing reimbursement.

Example 1: “Let’s Just Keep What We Have”

An associate dentist buys the practice where he’s been working. Everything feels familiar, so credentialing gets handed to the office manager and existing contracts roll forward.

The office runs smoothly—but no one stops to ask whether the contracts themselves still make sense.

What happens?

• Legacy fee schedules stay in place
• Some contracts reimburse well below market
• Redundant networks remain active
• Fixing it later becomes slow and disruptive

The practice works, but the owner unknowingly inherits low contract fees that cap revenue from day one. And this burden shouldn’t fall on office staff—they’re there to run operations, not design revenue strategy.

Example 2: Starting with the Right Guardrails

In contrast, another new owner treats credentialing as a business decision, not an administrative task.

Before enrolling with any networks, the dentist works with guidance to ask:

• Which contracts actually support revenue goals?
• How do reimbursements compare across common procedures?
• How will this affect daily front-office work?
• Do office fees and contracted rates align long-term?

Instead of inheriting contracts blindly, the dentist builds a strategic contract foundation designed to prevent low reimbursement from the outset.

The result? This provider begins ownership with average reimbursement rates about 30% higher year over year than peers who didn’t take this step.

Same practice. Same patients. A very different financial outcome.

Bottom Line

Strategic credentialing isn’t clerical—it’s protection.

With the right guidance, the goal is to build the foundation correctly and follow it all the way through, from contract selection to clean claims processing and ultimately insurance payments hitting the bank.

Get it right at the start, and the practice grows from a position of strength—not recovery.

About the Author

Chrissy Shelton is the Founder of Link Practice Solutions and works in collaboration with Dentist2Owner Practice Transitions to support dental practice buyers and sellers through ownership transitions. She specializes in insurance credentialing, network participation, and contract optimization to ensure continuity of care, compliance, and revenue stability throughout the transition process.

She provides strategic credentialing and insurance support designed to protect practice value and prevent disruptions before, during, and after a sale.

This article was contributed by Chrissy Shelton in collaboration with Dentist 2 Owner Practice Transitions.