Psychiatric News (6/14) reports, “Calls to hundreds of child psychiatrists listed as in-network with Blue Cross-Blue Shield (BCBS) in three major U.S. cities led to appointments for children just 11% of the time,” investigators concluded in a study in which researchers “called 322 psychiatrists listed as in-network by Blue Cross-Blue Shield in Chicago, Houston, and Los Angeles and impersonated the parent of a 10-year-old child who had just visited the emergency department for depression.” Taking a “secret shopper” approach, the researchers “asked for an appointment using a standardized script that varied only according to how they intended to pay for the services: BCBS, Medicaid, or self-pay.” The findings were published online June 8 in a brief report in the journal Psychiatric Services, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.
Related Links:
— “Survey Reveals Stark Difficulty in Obtaining Appointments With Child Psychiatrists,” Psychiatric News, June , 202314