Spring 2020
Provider Satisfaction Survey Results
March 2020
Results of our Provider Satisfaction Survey completed in July 2019 revealed a significant decline (p < 0.05) in overall provider satisfaction, with the rate of providers saying they are either completely or somewhat satisfied decreasing from 65.3% in 2018 to 52.4% in 2019.
Surveying provider satisfaction annually allows Neighborhood to gauge its network providers’ satisfaction with services performed by the Plan. An external survey vendor, Symphony Performance Health Analytics, administered the survey and ensured a confidential mechanism for providers to report their experiences with Neighborhood.
We surveyed 1,000 network PCPs and medical specialists between May and July 2019, and 23.4% responded via mail, telephone or the Internet. Respondents were asked to rate Neighborhood compared to other health plans they work with on a five-point scale: well below average, somewhat below average, average, somewhat above average or well above average.
The survey results reveal a few strengths and many more areas needing improvement:
- Three measures met or exceeded the Medicaid benchmark:
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- Ease of reaching staff over the phone (Member Services Call Center),
- Helpfulness of staff in obtaining referrals (Member Services Call Center) and
- Health plan’s support of appropriate clinical care (Care Management).
- Provider satisfaction levels declined on all Neighborhood-specific measures, with more than half of the declines (59.5%) from 2018 to 2019 being statistically significant (p < 0.05). This finding differs greatly from the prior year’s survey results in which there were no significant declines in provider satisfaction from 2017 to 2018.
- Opportunities for improvement exist in the following areas: resolving provider issues and answering questions, accuracy of claims processing, reimbursement, the behavioral health network, and with pharmacy.
Some of the interventions implemented to improve provider satisfaction since the fourth quarter of 2019 include the following:
- resolved 200 historical system issues to improve claims payment accuracy;
- reduced the backlog of provider administrative appeals;
- implemented a centralized knowledge base platform (called Panviva) beginning with INTEGRITY to ensure consistency when responding to provider questions; and
- implemented robust Provider Portal enhancements in January 2020, yielding more interactive functionality.
Neighborhood’s next Provider Satisfaction Survey will be administered in the spring of 2020.