What to Include When Emailing Our Provider Network Consultant Team

Posted February 22, 2022

Our Provider Network Consultants (PNCs) serve as the liaison between Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois (BCBSIL) and our independently contracted provider community. Professional PNCs are assigned by region so that you and your staff have a dedicated team to contact via email for help. Among other services, your assigned PNC can help keep you up-to-date on BCBSIL initiatives, alert you of training opportunities and help you adhere to financial requirements and contractual compliance. 

If have questions about credentialing or contracting, you can email the professional PNC team assigned to your region. For a list of email addresses, refer to our Professional PNC Assignments list.* 

*Quick tip: Select only one mailbox from the list to help expedite your inquiry. (Copying multiple mailboxes will only delay the response time.)

So that the assigned PNC team may quickly and efficiently assist you, include all applicable information from the list below in your email inquiry:

  • Group Name  

  • Group/Provider Tax ID 

  • Billing National Provider Identifier (NPI) 

  • Rendering Provider Name: 

  • Rendering Provider NPI 

  • Council for Affordable Quality Healthcare (CAQH®) Number: 

  • Provider License Number 

  • Case Number

  • Full Description of Issue 

Remember: The PNCs aren’t your first point of contact for claim-related issues. For inquiries about commercial claim issues, contact our Provider Telecommunications Center (PTC) at 800-972-8088 – just follow the prompts to direct your call. For commercial claims, registered Availity® Essentials users can access the Claim Inquiry Resolution (CIR) tool for online assistance with specific inquiries on finalized claims. For government programs (Medicare Advantage and Illinois Medicaid) claim inquiries, call the customer service number on the member’s ID card. 

If you need further help with a claim-related inquiry, you can email your assigned PNC team. Include all of the applicable information from the list above, along with the following additional information:

  • Claim Number  

  • Call Reference Number from the PTC (format will be 1-1xxxxxxxxx) or CIR Number (commercial claims only)

Monthly Provider Hot Topics Webinar
We appreciate hearing from you via email, and we also hope you’ll join us the first week of every month for our Provider Hot Topics webinars. Our PNCs use this online forum to share upcoming initiatives, program updates and general network announcements. This month’s Hot Topics webinar is on March 10, 2022, at 10 a.m. – register now! We look forward to connecting with you. 

CAQH is an independent third party not-for-profit collaborative alliance of the nation’s leading health plans and networks. The mission of CAQH is to improve health care access and quality for patients and reduce administrative requirements for physicians and other health care providers and their office staffs. CAQH is solely responsible for its products and services.

Availity is a trademark of Availity, LLC, a separate company that operates a health information network to provide electronic information exchange services to medical professionals. Availity provides administrative services to BCBSIL. BCBSIL makes no endorsement, representations or warranties regarding any products or services provided by third party vendors and the products and services they offer.