Behavioral Health Access to Care Audit Analysis Objective and Description As noted , the NQS sees access as the first step in obtaining high-quality care : To receive quality care , first Americans must first gain entry into the health care system . The purpose of the access audit calls was to evaluate community access to care , provider responsiveness , and other customer service measures . The Polk Vision Access Audit involved making test phone calls to behavioral health service sites with the intent of identifying the following :
• Ability of the site to accept new patients .
• Expected wait time to have an initial appointment .
• Experience of the facility to refer the caller elsewhere when the desired services are not provided .
• How staff asks questions to define prospective client needs and other information prior to making an appointment ( e . g ., insurance coverage , appropriate levels of service , other access to care issues ).
• Other customer service characteristics .
The Profile here summarizes calls made to select behavioral health and substance abuse service providers in order to better understand the degree to which services are readily available and to identify barriers that may challenge the system ’ s ability to provide easy access for people in need . The following research summary highlights key results .
Access Audit Methodology The audit involved making mock calls to service sites with the intent of identifying the ability of the site to accept new patients , the expected wait time to have an initial appointment , and other customer service and access characteristics . The results provide insight to access gaps , improvement strategies , and service variations based on insurance status .
The research included multiple calls to 20 behavioral health service sites in Polk County . The sites included were randomly selected from a list of County service providers – with the exception that organizations often mentioned during the stakeholder interview research phase were explicitly incorporated .
Most service sites were “ shopped ” ( i . e ., called on the telephone ) by Crescendo “ shoppers ” seeking to schedule an appointment and to learn about other factors that potentially impact consumer access to services . 37 Calls were made at different times
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Crescendo ’ s “ shoppers ” contacted service sites from the point of view of having a relative new to the area and seeking information regarding access to care .
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