The California Department of Managed Health Care has set maximum wait times for HMO patients who request appointments with physicians and is the first state to do so, according to a report by the Los Angeles Times.
The DMHC will now require primary care physicians who treat HMO patients to see those patients within 10 business days of their requesting an appointment. Specialists will be required to see HMO patients within 15. Patients requiring urgent care must be seen within 48 hours, according to the report.
Additionally, the DMHC will require patients' phone calls to be returned within 30 minutes.
The requirements are the result of seven years of negotiations in response to a 2002 law that mandated more timely access to medical care for HMO patients. The details of the law were negotiated between state regulators, HMOs and healthcare providers.
A recent study places the average number of days patients must wait for a routine physical exam in San Diego at 24 days. In Los Angeles, the number of days is 59, according to the report.
Kaiser Permanente, California's largest non-profit HMO, said in the report it would spend the next two months working to comply with the requirements.
Read the Los Angeles Times' report on California HMO wait times.
The DMHC will now require primary care physicians who treat HMO patients to see those patients within 10 business days of their requesting an appointment. Specialists will be required to see HMO patients within 15. Patients requiring urgent care must be seen within 48 hours, according to the report.
Additionally, the DMHC will require patients' phone calls to be returned within 30 minutes.
The requirements are the result of seven years of negotiations in response to a 2002 law that mandated more timely access to medical care for HMO patients. The details of the law were negotiated between state regulators, HMOs and healthcare providers.
A recent study places the average number of days patients must wait for a routine physical exam in San Diego at 24 days. In Los Angeles, the number of days is 59, according to the report.
Kaiser Permanente, California's largest non-profit HMO, said in the report it would spend the next two months working to comply with the requirements.
Read the Los Angeles Times' report on California HMO wait times.