Amid criticism, White House scraps "stealth survey" of primary care doctors
Updated: 1:11 p.m. ET
The White House said Tuesday it will not move forward with a proposal that would have tested the ease or difficulty for Americans in finding and receiving primary medical care through the use of so-called "mystery shoppers."
The proposal, which meant to address a shortage of primary care physicians in America and investigate the possible subsequent coverage gap, would have had contractors call more than 4,000 doctors in nine states in America. The New York Times, reporting on the story this week, described the mission as a "stealth survey" in which those contractors, acting as prospective patients, would attempt to make appointments in order to evaluate how difficult it was to find primary care. It would also have evaluated whether or not doctors were more likely to accept patients with private insurance over those covered by government health programs.
On Tuesday, however, in light of criticism that the program amounted to federal "spying" and a waste of tax dollars, Health and Human Services said it was scrapping the plan.
"After reviewing feedback received during the public comment period, we have determined that now is not the time to move forward with this research project," an HHS spokesperson said in a statement. "Instead, we will pursue other initiatives that build on our efforts to increase access to health care providers nationwide."
"The Obama Administration has made the recruitment and retention of primary care professionals a top priority," the HHS official continued. "Together, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the Affordable Care Act and ongoing federal investments in the health care workforce have led to significant progress in training more new primary care providers - including physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants - and encouraging primary care providers to practice in underserved areas."
Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., one of the most vociferous critics of the survey, praised the department's decision not to pursue the project.
"HHS made the right decision to dump the 'secret surveys' to spy on physician offices," he said. "I spoke against this misallocation of taxpayer dollars today on the Senate floor because the survey is duplicative of what we already know and funding should be spent solving problems, not studying them."
In a letter protesting the program, which he circulated in the Senate earlier on Tuesday, Kirk questioned the ethics and legality of the proposal.
"We have deep concerns regarding the Department's recent plans for a 'stealth survey,' its legality, notification to Congress and lack of standards for any misconduct or bad reporting by the staff hired to carry out this work on American doctors and their practice of medicine," he wrote in the letter.
Doctors, too, had expressed critical views of the project.
"I don't like the idea of the government snooping," Dr. Raymond Scalettar, a Washington-area internist, told the Times.
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on Wednesday announced a new initiative aimed improving data collection in order to tackle inequality within the health care system.
"Health disparities have persistent and costly affects for minority communities, and the whole country," Sebelius said in a statement. "Today we are taking critical steps toward ensuring the collection of useful national data on minority groups, including for the first time, LGBT populations. The data we will eventually collect in these efforts will serve as powerful tools and help us in our fight to end health disparities."
