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MCC finds barriers to prenatal care in Philadelphia and Norristown
MCC regularly explores the barriers--long waits, less providers-- faced by pregnant women on Medicaid seeking prenatal care in Philadelphia and in Norristown.
Philadelphia
There are three managed care organizations' (MCOs) that offer plans to Medicaid recipients: Keystone Mercy Health Plan, AmeriChoice, and Health Partner's. MCC checked these three MCOs' provider directories and found that, in the summer 2007. In our Survey of Prenatal Care Availability for Medicaid Managed Care Recipients in Philadelphia, MCC found that:
- The directories were more than 85% inaccurate.
- Listed providers frequently were no longer available; the phone number was wrong; or the site listed no longer offered prenatal care.
- Out of 1,500+ listings, only 139 providers at 61 prenatal care sites were available.
- The waiting time for an initial appointment averaged just above the two-week standard.
The consequences of inaccurate information were recognized and policy changes have been implemented by some of the MCOs and the Department of Public Welfare to assure consumers have accurate and easily accessible information. |
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Norristown
NEW! "The Prenatal Care Experiences of African American Women in Norristown." MCC, the Norristown Alliance for Healthy Babies and the Montgomery County Health Department recently conducted a study of the barriers to prenatal care access. In January 2010, African American women came together to discuss the report and the challenges they face in accessing prenatal care and ensuring for themselves a healthy pregnancy and a healthy newborn. Read it here!
Sister Speak Out 2010 |
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Read the Report
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As moderator for the event Shamara, POWR99 FM mid-day host, took comments from audience members.
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Panelists (left to right): Bertha Staples-Tucker, mother and Social Worker at Laurel House and Norristown Family Center;
Jasmine White, local mom and participant in the Norristown Alliance for Healthy Babies Report. |
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Brownsyne Tucker Edmonds, MD, MPH
responds to the report findings.
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Event moderator Shamara joins Montgomery County Department of Health's Dr. Joseph DiMino, Medical Director (center) and Barbara Hand, Infant Health Coordinator (second from left, standing); MCC staff members Olivia Hamilton, Prenatal Outreach Coordinator (on right, seated) and Cynthia Waters, Director of Operations (on far right, standing) along with the event panelists.
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Panelists Yasmeen Davis, MOMobile advocate, with Nurse midwife at Montgomery Hospital, Crystal Franklin. |
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| Annual Data on Providers and Wait Times |
| MCC staff annually call each listed provider for all three Medicaid managed care organizations (MCOs) for Norristown to learn how long the wait is for the first available prenatal care appointment. The charts below summarize what we have learned. |
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The first chart demonstrates that the average wait time for an initial prenatal care appointment is 4 weeks. This is the first substantial increase in the wait time in the last few years. This is the first year that we have had to go beyond the 5-mile search radius to find providers for one of the plans.
The reasons have changed but the problem remains for women in Norristown. We need to do better for Norristown families! |
Prenatal appointments in Norristown (all MCOs) |
All MCOs |
# of Providers Listed on MCO Web sites |
# of Individual providers available |
Average wait time for an appointment |
August, 2005 |
115 |
15 |
6 weeks |
August, 2006 |
87 |
15 |
5.5 weeks |
August, 2007 |
64 |
12 |
2.9 weeks |
August, 2008 |
53 |
10 |
3 weeks |
| August, 2009 |
105 |
12 |
4 weeks |
These numbers reflect the actual number of providers among the three MCOs, excluding duplicates among their lists. |
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| The charts below show the individual data collected for each of the three managed care organizations (MCOs). |
Keystone Mercy Health Plan: Prenatal appointments in Norristown
Keystone Mercy Health Plan
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# of Providers Listed on MCO Web sites |
# of Individual providers available |
Average wait time for an appointment |
August, 2005 |
69 |
6 |
5 weeks |
August, 2006 |
32 |
11 |
5 weeks |
August, 2007 |
33 |
11 |
3 weeks |
August, 2008
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26 |
9 |
3 weeks |
| August, 2009 |
78 |
9 |
4 weeks |
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AmeriChoice: Prenatal appointments in Norristown
AmeriChoice |
# of Providers Listed on MCO Web sites |
# of Individual providers available |
Average wait time for an appointment |
August, 2005 |
24 |
2 |
7 weeks |
August, 2006 |
17 |
10 |
7.5 weeks |
August, 2007 |
21 |
7 |
3.4 weeks |
August, 2008
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20 |
6 |
3 weeks |
| August, 2009* |
20 |
5 |
6 weeks |
*AmeriChoice’s online directory does not provide a radius search option.
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Health Partner's: Prenatal appointments in Norristown
Health Partner's |
Listed Providers |
# of Individual providers available |
Average wait time for an appointment |
August, 2005 |
22 |
7 |
N/A |
August, 2006 |
38 |
4 |
4 weeks |
August, 2007 |
10 |
5 |
3.1 weeks |
August, 2008
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6 |
7 |
4 weeks |
| August, 2009* |
7 |
1 |
1 day |
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*In 2009, the search radius for Health Partners was extended to 15 miles because no providers appeared when searching within 5 miles.
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Each year we document the reasons that so many listings are inaccurate. The pie charts below show the reasons for inaccuracies and their frequency. |
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Please visit our Childbirth Crisis News page to read recent articles or check out our Advocacy Hot Flashes!
Last Updated January 2010
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