From June 2001 NASW NEWS
Copyright ©2001, National Association of Social Workers, Inc.

'Secret Shopper' to Go

ValueOptions Seeks Alternative

The practice promotes a "corrosive public relations atmosphere."

By John V. O'Neill, MSW, NEWS Staff

The chief executive officer of ValueOptions, the large managed behavioral health company, said his organization will quit using the "secret shopper" technique to monitor availability of practitioners to accept patients if the National Commission for Quality Assurance (NCQA) does not penalize the organization.

The company's position was announced at a meeting in Boston in April between state and national NASW representatives and ValueOptions executives, including CEO Ronald Dozoretz. The company provides mental health, substance abuse and employee assistance program services to over 23 million people.

ValueOptions agreed to a meeting after NASW's Massachusetts Chapter wrote Dozoretz complaining about the company's practice.

The secret shopper method works something like this: a company representative, pretending to be a potential client, calls a mental health practitioner and asks for an appointment. At the point an appointment is set up, the "secret shopper" admits it was just a ruse to test the availability of the practitioner to accept a client.

In a March letter to Dozoretz, NASW Massachusetts Chapter officers called the practice "deceptive and unethical." They said that NCQA had removed references to secret shopper from its guidelines in order to avoid promulgating practices causing concern among providers. The method "promotes a corrosive public relations atmosphere [between] the two parties whose common goal is to work together to provide quality mental health services," they wrote.

Other managed care organizations use other methods to survey practitioner accessibility without using deception, the letter asserted. ValueOptions may be the only managed care organization in the country using the practice, and only in the New England region, according to those at the meeting.

The meeting was amiable, with Dozoretz saying he formerly was a practicing psychiatrist and wouldn't like it if someone used deception to test his availability to see patients. He said his company would end the practice and use another method if NCQA would allow it to use an alternative method to gather data without penalty while in the process of accreditation. Dozoretz said ValueOptions didn't realize what a bad public relations problem it was creating by using the secret shopper tool, according to Carol Trust, Massachusetts Chapter director of clinical issues and continuing education.

NASW and ValueOptions agreed to write a joint letter to NCQA asking that the company immediately be allowed to substitute another method of surveying practitioner availability without penalty.

NASW's national Board of Directors passed a resolution opposing the practice at its spring meeting, saying that social workers who participated in making secret shopper calls were at risk of possible ethical violations.

The practice, being used by ValueOptions in the Northeast region, was dropped by NCQA as a recommended method last year, said Mirean Coleman, NASW senior staff associate, who was at the meeting. But ValueOptions had begun the NCQA accreditation cycle — which usually takes three years — using secret shopper, and was concerned that switching methods might cause the company to receive a low accreditation score.

"The practice will end eventually. It just may take a little time to filter through the system," said Coleman.

Coleman and Trust said all aspects of the meeting were positive. After discussing the secret shopper practice, participants spent the remainder of the meeting discussing ways to increase the partnership between clinicians and the company, said Trust.

In addition to Trust and Coleman, those at the meeting from NASW were: Carol Brill, Massachusetts Chapter executive director; Mary Hall, Massachusetts Chapter president; Rita Van Tassle, Massachusetts Chapter president-elect; Donald Markum, co-chair of the chapter's Managed Care Committee; and Gary Bailey, national vice president.

In addition to Dozoretz, ValueOptions was represented by William Butler, vice president of provider relations, and Michael Lardiere, director of provider relations in the Northeast region.

NASW has established a dedicated telephone extension and e-mail box for members to report secret shopper incidents.

To report secret shopper episodes: phone (800) 638-8799, ext. 450; e-mail sshopper@naswdc.org

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