> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://handbook.helendelovely.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Licensure and Credentialing

> Keeping your license current, and what payer credentialing asks of you.

## Your license is yours

You are responsible for keeping your Utah license active, renewing it on time, and completing your continuing education. The practice pays for license renewal for clinicians as a benefit, but the deadline is yours. A lapsed license means you can't see clients, and the practice can't bill for your work.

Tell Helen and the practice manager the same day if:

* Your license lapses, is restricted, or is disciplined
* DOPL opens a complaint or investigation involving you
* You are named in a malpractice claim or lawsuit related to clinical work, here or anywhere
* You are arrested for or charged with any offense that could affect licensure

We would much rather hear it from you than from DOPL.

## Continuing education

Utah requires 40 hours of CE every two-year renewal cycle for LCSWs and CSWs, including 6 hours of ethics, law, or ethics of technology and 2 hours of suicide prevention (Utah Admin. Code R156-60e-402.1). Complete it on time and send completion certificates to the practice manager so they're on file. The practice tracks renewal dates in a shared licensure calendar and will remind you, but reminders don't replace your own tracking.

The practice provides a CE stipend for clinicians; see [Continuing education stipend](/pay-and-time-off/continuing-education-stipend). The practice itself is not an approved CE provider and does not award CE credit for anything it hosts.

## Payer credentialing

Before we can bill an insurance plan for your sessions, that plan has to credential you. This takes months and requires:

* A current, complete CAQH profile that you attest to regularly
* Your individual NPI
* Copies of your license, malpractice certificate, and degree
* Prompt responses to any credentialing request

The practice manager runs the credentialing process. You'll be asked for documents and attestations along the way. Respond within a few business days; every delay pushes back the date your sessions become billable.

Until a payer confirms your credentialing in writing, don't tell a client their plan will cover you. Route coverage questions to the front office.

## Malpractice coverage

The practice carries professional liability coverage and adds clinicians to the policy before their first client session. If you carry your own policy as well, give the practice manager a copy of the certificate.

## Primary source verification

We verify licenses directly with DOPL at hire and at each renewal. This is standard practice, not a comment on trust.