Be Prepared: Upcoming DHCS Provider Calls on Appointment Availability

Date: 02/12/18

The California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) has contracted with Health Services Advisory Group, Inc. (HSAG) to conduct a focused study to assess the extent to which Medi-Cal managed care health plans (MCPs), including California Health & Wellness Plan (CHWP), are meeting the appointment wait time standards. Provider offices are asked how quickly they can offer and schedule appointments for members for the appointment types listed in the table here.

HSAG’s vendor, DataStat, will conduct calls to providers in four phases with each phase to include approximately 25 percent of the total random study sample. The total random sample consists of 411 providers for each of the provider types below:

• Primary care providers
• Specialists
• Mental health care providers
• Ancillary providers, such as physical therapy, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and mammography

The following is the call schedule for each phase of the focused study:

Study Phase	Call Date Range
Phase 1	February 12, 2018 – March 27, 2018
Phase 2	April 18, 2018 – May 30, 2018
Phase 3	July 18, 2018 – August 29, 2018
Phase 4	October 17, 2018 – December 3, 2018