Winter 2015/2016
Results of our most recent Provider Satisfaction Survey completed in July 2015 indicate that overall satisfaction with Neighborhood is strong, with nearly eight in ten (79%) respondents saying they would recommend Neighborhood to other physician practices.
Surveying provider satisfaction annually allows Neighborhood to gauge its network providers’ satisfaction with services performed by the Plan. The survey was administered externally by Symphony Performance Health Analytics (SPHA), ensuring a confidential mechanism by which providers could report on their experiences with Neighborhood.
We surveyed 921 network primary care physicians (PCPs) and medical specialists between May and July 2015, and 25% responded via mail, telephone or the Internet. We listened to providers and shortened the survey tool from 87 to 49 questions. Respondents were asked to rate Neighborhood compared to other health plans they work with on a five-point scale: well above average, somewhat above average, average, somewhat below average or well below average.The survey results reveal strengths as well as some areas for improvement:
- Provider satisfaction is highest with ease of reaching health plan call center staff over the phone with over half (56%) of respondents rating Neighborhood above average, exceeding the SPHA Medicaid benchmark.
- Providers were least satisfied with aspects of Neighborhood’s formulary, with about four in ten (38%) providers rating the variety of branded drugs on the formulary as below average when compared to other health plans.
- Neighborhood was rated average by a majority of responding providers on all six items related to utilization and quality management.
- Opportunities for improvement exist in the following areas: pharmacy, claims processing and provider relations.
A number of interventions have been implemented in 2015 to improve provider satisfaction:
- Our Pharmacy team continues to revise select prior authorization forms as needed to improve communication with prescribers and increase awareness of Neighborhood’s decision-making process.
- Claims underwent extensive business process mapping and metric development in Q2 2015, leading to backlog reduction and staffing adjustments.
- Utilization Management simplified and reduced the number of Home Care Authorization forms from three to one, with more streamlining planned for the future.
Neighborhood’s next Provider Satisfaction Survey will be administered in the spring of 2016.