Industry
Secret Shopper Study Finds Pervasive Behavioral Health Ghost Networks
A secret shopper study found that fewer than a quarter of calls to listed mental health clinicians resulted in a scheduled appointment, with directory errors, wrong numbers, and unreachable providers among the key causes. These "ghost networks," providers listed in plan directories who are not actually accepting patients, make behavioral health access look better on paper than it is in practice. The findings apply broadly across insurance types and raise questions about whether published provider directories reflect real network adequacy. The study underscores long-standing concerns that directory inaccuracies undermine patients' ability to find timely mental health care.
Why it mattersFor state Medicaid agencies and MCOs, the findings add pressure to audit behavioral health directories and enforce network adequacy standards rather than rely on self-reported provider rosters.