(

a) Except as provided in

Section 1374.197, within one year of the operative date of this section, a health care service plan or its delegate that credentials health care providers for its networks shall make a determination regarding the credentials of a health care provider within days after receiving a completed provider credentialing application, including all required third-party verifications. Upon receipt of the application by the credentialing department, the health care service plan or its delegate shall notify the applicant within business days to verify receipt and inform the applicant whether the application is complete.

The health care service plan shall activate the provider upon successful approval and notify the applicant of the activation within days of approval if the approval occurs prior to the end of the 90-day timeline. The 90-day timeline shall apply only to the credentialing process and does not include contracting completion. If the health care service plan or its delegate does not meet the 90-day requirement, the applicant’s credentials shall be provisionally approved for days unless any of the following apply:

(1) The applicant is subject to discipline by the licensing entity for that applicant.

(2) The applicant has one or more adverse action reports or one or more reports of malpractice payments filed with the National Practitioner Data Bank.

(3) The applicant has not been credentialed by the health care service plan in the past five years. (

b) This

section does not apply to contracts with the State Department of Health Care Services pursuant to

Chapter 7 (commencing with

Section 14000) or

Chapter 8 (commencing with

Section 14200) of Part of Division of Welfare and Institutions Code.