That Payer Provider Directories Problem We Told You About? It’s Worse Than You Know

Just a couple of weeks ago, we relayed that an investigation showed Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois failed to audit at least 25% of provider directories to ensure they were current and that their website maintained current provider information. The upshot was that your urgent care center might not show up when BCBS members searched for covered practices to visit. Now the Journal of the American Medical Association has published a study revealing that the directories of five major payers display inconsistent information about individual physicians far too often: “In a sample representing 40% of practicing physicians in the U.S., 81% of entries were inconsistent among multiple directories.” And the problem only grows for multilocation practices and group practices, for which the most common error was reporting that all providers could be seen at all locations—which would be a neat trick given the confines of time and space. As we suggested previously, it’s imperative to ensure that the information listed for your operation and your providers is correct so patients can find you when they need you, wherever you may be. Ask a diligent staffer to comb through the directories to identify errors, and bring those errors to the attention of the offending payers immediately.