HHS-Medicaid "Secret Shopper"

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is seeking approval for a study in which researchers will call more than 4,100 doctors’ offices in nine states and seek appointments posing as patients with various medical needs. Each office will get two calls, one from someone posing as a privately insured patient, and once from a simulated patient on Medicare or Medicaid. The nine states are Florida, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia. The proposed study will aim to assess the availability and timliness of primary care physicians accepting new patients covered by Medicare or Medicaid.