Attached a link to today's New York Times article http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/27/health/policy/27docs.html reporting that the federal government plans to deploy mystery shoppers who will call doctors in nine states to try to schedule an appointment first posing as someone with private insurance and another time as someone with public insurance. The goal is to ascertain access to care issues , especially as the healthcare system braces for millions more Medicaid patients in 2014.
Already doctors are lining up in opposition to these "snooping" tactics. In response Christian J. Stenrud, a Health and Human Services spokesman, said: “Access to primary care is a priority for the administration. This study is an effort to better understand the problem and make sure we are doing everything we can to support primary care physicians, especially in communities where the need is greatest.”
So shall we oppose in principle all tactics that are aimed to assess the scope of the primary care shortage and related access to care issues? Are there any meaningful alternatives to the proposed "snooping" tactics deploying mystery shoppers to doctors offices? What role can we play not only to highlight the problem but to offer solutions?
I look forward to your responses and comments.
Yours
Bernd
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