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Timely Access to Behavioral Health Appointments

UPMC for Life and UPMC Health Plan Behavioral Health Services work together to make sure that members get behavioral health appointments in a timely manner and that they have quick access to UPMC Health Plan Behavioral Health Services by telephone.

We have adopted access standards for behavioral health appointments that meet or exceed state and national guidelines.  UPMC for Life members are expected to have:

• Appointments for routine behavioral health services within seven calendar days.
• Services for urgent needs within 24 hours.
• Non-life threatening emergency services within one hour.
• Immediate emergency services in life threatening situations.

In 2006, behavioral health practitioners met the appointment standards for urgent, non-life threatening emergent and emergency situations 100% of the time based on calls made to UPMC Health Plan Behavioral Health Services. 

Access to routine behavioral health appointments is also measured by two questions on the annual satisfaction survey.  For the 2006 survey, 92% of UPMC for Life members reported that they usually or always got a routine appointment as soon as they wanted.  54% of UPMC for Life members reported getting an appointment within seven calendar days from the time they called to schedule an appointment for routine care. 

Ways we encouraged timely access to behavioral health appointments include:

• Publishing access standards on a semi-annual basis in the Provider Newsletter.
• Posting articles about access on both the provider and member sections of our website.
• Care management staff are always available to assist members in scheduling appointments, including three-way calls with the member and provider.

To serve our members better, we also measure how quickly we answer the telephone and what percentage of callers hang up before their calls are answered.  UPMC Health Plan Behavioral Health Services exceeded goals for both of these measures in 2006, and we continually try to improve our telephone responsiveness.

If you have trouble scheduling appointments soon enough to meet your needs or want behavioral health referral assistance, please call 1-888-251-0083.  TTY users can call 1-877-877-3580.   

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