18% Of Medicaid Consumer Calls To Network Mental Health Prescribers Resulted In An Appointment – With Up To 6-Month Wait Time

In four large cities in Arizona, California, Illinois, and New York, a secret shopper survey of Medicaid clinical mental health prescribers found that 17.8% of calls resulted in a new appointment. Wait times for appointments lasted for up to six months.

Across 320 calls to a sampled group of psychiatric prescribing clinical professionals (psychiatrists, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants) listed as in-network by the managed care organization (MCO) directory, no appointments could be set with 263 of them. For 15.2% of these clinical professionals, the number listed in the directory was incorrect or out of service. Another . . .