symplr Provider Portal
Reimagining provider credentialing through human-centered design.
We designed a new provider credentialing portal that combined structured web forms with document uploads—offering providers two intuitive pathways to complete requirements. A kanban-style dashboard gave them clear visibility into progress, deadlines, and next steps, transforming a once-opaque process into one that felt organized and transparent.
On the backend, the design introduced automation concepts such as document classification, metadata extraction, and expiration reminders, supported by decision-support dashboards for operations teams.
Early results indicated that these design patterns improved comprehension, reduced confusion, and demonstrated strong potential to streamline credentialing and free healthcare teams to focus more on care rather than paperwork.
My Role: UX Research, Wireframing, Usability Testing, Accessibility Design
Project Time: 1 year (from discovery to MVP handoff)
THE PROBLEM
Credentialing is a critical but often frustrating part of provider operations. At symplr, health systems and payers relied on manual spreadsheets, emails, and outdated portals to manage provider licensing and compliance.
What began as a plan to give the existing portal a visual refresh quickly evolved once we conducted initial user research. Providers’ top frustration wasn’t with the interface—it was with redundancy. They were reentering the same information across multiple forms, a limitation rooted in the system’s underlying data structure.
Challenges we uncovered:
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Providers had no visibility into where they stood in the process.
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Providers were required to reenter the same information across multiple forms, increasing effort and error.
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Credentialers spent hours each week on manual document sorting and reminder emails.
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Ops leaders lacked a way to spot compliance risks before they became issues.
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Manual processes created delays, errors, and frustration that directly impacted provider satisfaction.
The Opportunity:
We set out to create a scalable, intuitive provider portal that:
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Streamlined workflows through automation
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Reduced admin burden by handling repetitive tasks (classification, tracking, reminders)
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Empowered providers with real-time status visibility
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Equipped compliance teams with decision-support dashboards
DISCOVERY & INSIGHTS
Credentialing Workflow Mapping
We mapped responsibilities across credentialers, auditors, providers, and MSOs to understand where the process was breaking down. This service-design lens helped us see not just the screens, but the handoffs, overlaps, and risks between roles.
During this process, it became clear that the biggest barrier to efficiency wasn’t aesthetic—it was architectural. The legacy system treated each form as a standalone object, making data reuse impossible. Addressing that meant rethinking not just the interface, but how data flowed through the entire credentialing lifecycle.
Key Insights
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Credentialers served as the central hub, managing dozens of forms and reminders — insights from their workflow led to the design of automation concepts for document classification and expiration tracking.
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Providers lacked visibility into their own progress — this pain point drove the creation of a real-time status dashboard prototype to increase transparency and confidence.
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Auditors frequently repeated work verifying documentation — their feedback inspired decision-support dashboard concepts to surface potential risks earlier in the process.
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Operations Managers struggled to identify bottlenecks across teams — these findings informed the inclusion of reporting and compliance metrics within the designed framework.
DEFINING MVP > V2
One of the most important parts of this project was deciding what belonged in the first release (MVP), what should wait for V2, and what was out of scope entirely. This framing gave the team clarity, helped Operations prepare for adoption, and kept stakeholders aligned on outcomes.
MVP Scope (V1)
🚀 Goal: Launch quickly with essentials for providers and credentialers
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Kanban-Style Dashboard to track task status (Alerts, To Do, Working, Waiting, Done)
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Web forms for direct entry of personal, contact, and organizational details
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Document uploads for licenses, certifications, malpractice insurance, etc.
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Real-time status tracking for providers
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Basic expiration reminders
V2 Iterations
🔧 Goal: Build leverage with automation + AI features
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Auto-classification of documents (AI)
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Two-way communication between providers and credentialing specialists (messaging/comments inside portal)
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Embarkation step to validate provider database info before accessing dashboard
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Delegation of tasks (allow providers to assign requirements to office staff or delegates)
Out of Scope (Future Phases)
🛑 Deferred to keep MVP focused
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Advanced analytics dashboards for executives
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Non-core reporting unrelated to credentialing workflows
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Live chat between provider and credentialing specialist
THE SOLUTION
The redesigned Provider Portal supported two complementary flows for providers to complete their credentialing requirements. By giving providers both pathways, we simplified their experience while also reducing workload for credentialers and operations teams.
1. Kanban-Style Dashboard
🧩 Transparency + accountability for providers
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All tasks (forms + uploads) organized into columns: Alert, To Do, Working, Waiting, Done.
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Providers could see real-time progress and due dates at a glance.
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Reduced frustration by showing exactly where they stood and what was next.
2. Document Uploads
🗂 Simplified file submission with automation
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Providers uploaded licenses, certifications, malpractice insurance, and DEA forms.
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The system automatically classified document type and extracted metadata (license numbers, expiration dates).
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Automated reminders flagged upcoming expirations before compliance risk grew.
3. Web Forms
📄 Structured, guided data collection
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Providers filled out personal, contact, and organizational information directly in the portal.
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Step-by-step progress indicators (Complete → Review → Confirm) kept them oriented.
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Built-in field validation reduced missing or incorrect entries.
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Clear due dates gave providers accountability and visibility.
A guided web form with validation and progress indicators reduced errors and back-and-forth corrections.
IMPACT
The Provider Portal redesign laid the groundwork for a unified, user-centered credentialing experience. Early testing showed strong promise in simplifying workflows and improving clarity for every stakeholder involved.
Key Outcomes
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Providers: Early results indicated increased confidence and ease in tracking credentialing status and deadlines, reducing confusion and uncertainty.
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Credentialers: Prototype testing suggested the automation concepts could significantly reduce manual sorting, allowing more focus on high-value reviews.
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Operations & Compliance: The proposed dashboards were well-received for their potential to surface risk earlier and provide clearer oversight before issues arise.
Quotes from participants in research study
Dr. Patel, Primary Care Provider
"Before, I felt like I was chasing documents and approvals with no clear timeline. Now, I know exactly where I stand in the process—it's so much less stressful."
Dr. Martinez, Specialist
"The new Provider Portal is a game-changer. I used to dread logging in, but now everything I need is in one place, and I can complete tasks faster than ever."
Dr. Nguyen, Physician
"Credentialing used to feel like a black hole. Now, with the improved workflow, I get real-time updates, and I’m spending less time on admin work and more time with patients."
REFLECTIONS
Designing the Provider Portal wasn’t just about improving an interface — it was about untangling complexity across people, processes, and policies. By pairing structured web forms with document uploads and layering in automation and dashboard concepts, the design exploration gave providers, credentialers, and operations teams tools that better reflected how they work.
Early conversations with leadership framed the initiative as a facelift for the existing system, but our research showed that wouldn’t address the core issue: repetitive data entry. That discovery became a turning point. The work evolved into a data architecture restructuring effort, ensuring the future portal could reuse and prefill information intelligently across workflows—an outcome far more transformative than we originally imagined.
✅ What Worked
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Strong cross-functional collaboration between design, product, ops, and engineering.
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Early MVP → V2 scoping helped align priorities and prevent feature creep.
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Applying a service design lens ensured we considered not only user interactions, but also the surrounding communication and compliance workflows.
🔧 What I’d Improve
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Integrate automation prototyping and testing earlier to validate concepts sooner.
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Expand provider-facing communication touchpoints in future testing rounds to strengthen trust and clarity.
💡 Why It Matters
Healthcare teams spend too much time on administrative burden. This project showed that with the right design approach — curiosity, clarity, and leverage — we can build systems that return time and focus back to care.