Guide
Leaving Rula, Headway, Grow Or Alma? What Happens To Your Insurance Contracts
On most platforms you see insurance clients under the platform's contracts, not your own. That's why leaving can feel like starting over. Here's what each platform says about whose contract you're under, what stays with you, what happens to your clients, and how long your own contracts take.
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Start Here
Whose Contract Are You Under Today?
Each platform’s own help pages answer this a little differently. We read them on October 20, 2026.
Headway
Headway credentials you under your individual NPI and bills insurance under its own group NPI. It says its credentialing doesn’t affect your current insurance contracts or your independent credentialing. Headway Group practice FAQs
Starting state by state in November 2026, Headway says it charges a $9.99 marketplace service fee on every appointment with a new client who finds you through its marketplace, for as long as you see that client. Clients you add yourself or who book through your direct link don’t carry the fee. Headway marketplace service fee
Alma
Alma credentials members under Alma’s Tax ID, even if you already have your own insurance credentials. New members join its insurance program with at least one of Aetna, Cigna or Optum. Alma for providers
Grow Therapy
Grow says enrollment adds you to Grow’s group contracts, and that your enrollment status won’t transfer outside of Grow if you leave. Grow Therapy help
Rula
Rula credentials you first, then enrolls you with its partner insurance networks and maintains that enrollment. You keep your own license, NPI, liability policy and CAQH profile current. Rula credentialing and enrollment
When You Leave
What Stays With You And What Doesn’t
Your license, your individual NPI, your liability policy and your CAQH profile are yours, and they go wherever you go. Rula asks you to attest your CAQH profile again every 120 days, so keep it current wherever you go.
The platform’s payer enrollment usually doesn’t come with you. Grow says so directly, and on Alma you were credentialed under Alma’s Tax ID. If you want to see insurance clients in your own practice, you need contracts in your own name or your business’s name.
Before You Leave
Can You Build Your Own Contracts While You Stay?
Usually, yes. Headway says its credentialing doesn’t affect your independent credentialing. Rula says you’re free to work on other platforms or in a private practice at the same time. Alma welcomes referrals from outside Alma. Many clinicians keep seeing platform clients while their own contracts are pending, so there’s no gap in income.
If you’re opening your own practice, First Practice Launch builds your payers, medical billing and coding setup, and EHR together, so your own contracts are ready when you want to move.
Your Clients
What Happens To Your Clients?
Your clients choose where they continue care. You can build your own insurance contracts while you’re still on a platform, and we time your launch so your existing clients can follow you if they want to.
Timing
How Long Your Own Contracts Take
Platforms can get you seeing clients fast because you join contracts they already hold. Alma quotes 45 days or less, and Rula says as little as two weeks. Your own contracts go through each payer’s full review. Credentialing approvals typically take 60 to 120 days, and each payer sets its own timing. That’s the reason to start while you’re still on the platform.
Your Next Step
Which Path Fits You
- You’re opening your own practice. First Practice Launch sets up your payers, EHR, scheduling and medical billing in the right order, $1,500 a month for four months or $6,000 paid in full. You can keep seeing clients on the platform while it runs.
- Your business and EHR are already set up. Individual Provider Credentialing gets you contracts in your own name, a $500 setup fee plus $350 per payer, with a two payer minimum. Two payers is $1,200.
- Your practice has its own Tax ID, even a solo PLLC. Direct Payer Contracting gets the practice contracts in its own name, a $1,000 setup fee per provider plus $500 per payer, with a two payer minimum.
Leaving the platform’s billing too? Ongoing Billing takes over your claims as each contract goes live, at 7% of collections with a $300 monthly minimum for a solo provider.
For the two paths side by side, read Headway Vs Alma Vs Private Practice.
Common Questions
Leaving A Platform FAQ
Do I Own My Insurance Contracts On Headway?
Headway bills under its own group NPI, so the payer relationship runs through Headway. Your own contracts are separate, and Headway says its credentialing doesn’t affect them.
Does My Credentialing Transfer If I Leave Grow Therapy?
Grow says your enrollment status won’t transfer outside of Grow. Your license, NPI and CAQH profile stay yours.
Can I Take My Clients When I Leave Rula?
Your clients choose where they continue care. You can build your own insurance contracts while you’re still on a platform, and we time your launch so your existing clients can follow you if they want to.
Can I Be On Alma And Have My Own Insurance Panels?
Alma credentials you under its own Tax ID and welcomes outside referrals. Apply for your own contracts while you stay.
What Does It Cost To Get My Own Contracts?
If you’re opening the practice too, First Practice Launch is $1,500 a month for four months or $6,000 paid in full, with five payers included. If your business and EHR are already set up, Individual Provider Credentialing is a $500 setup fee plus $350 per payer for one clinician, with a two payer minimum, so two payers is $1,200. You see your total before you pay.
Want Help Putting This Into Practice?
Every package has a published price, and custom work gets a written scope and price first. Standard packages are bought online, with no call needed. Tell us where this leaves your practice, and we’ll say which one you need, or whether you need us at all.