Secret Shoppers Report 30% Primary Care Appointment Set Rate For California Blues Plans

A “secret shopper” survey of primary care professionals listed as participating in Anthem Blue Cross and in Blue Shield of California Covered California Marketplace and non-Marketplace individual plans reported a 30% appointment set rate for a new patient visit. The secret shoppers were unable to set appointments with 70% of more than 700 primary care professionals called during the survey. The primary care professionals were listed as participating providers in the plan network directories for both types of plans. There were four key barriers common to both Marketplace and non-Marketplace individual plan network directories: 10% of the listings . . .