Report 2013-125 Recommendation 10 Responses
Report 2013-125: California Department of Health Care Services: Weaknesses in Its Medi-Cal Dental Program Limit Children's Access to Dental Care (Release Date: December 2014)
Recommendation #10 To: Health Care Services, Department of
To make certain that access to dental services for child beneficiaries is comparable to the access available to the general population in the same geographic areas, Health Care Services should also compare its results for measuring the percentage of child beneficiaries who had at least one dental visit in the past 12 months with the results from the three surveys conducted by other entities, as its state plan requires.
Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From September 2017
DHCS posted the 2016 California's FFS Medi Cal Program Health Care Access Monitoring Plan, inclusive of the dental portion mentioned in the prior update. The 2016 report can be found here:
http://www.dhcs.ca.gov/formsandpubs/laws/Documents/2016AccessMonitoringPlan.pdf.
- Completion Date: September 2016
California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Resolved
Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From November 2016
DHCS has revised the monitoring plan submission to include comparisons of the percentage of child beneficiaries who had at least one dental visit in the past twelve months with the results from the three surveys conducted by other entities as required by the State Plan. The three surveys used for comparison are The National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), The Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS), and the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS). DHCS used the most recent versions of each of these survey reports in its 2012 monitoring report. This effort allowed the Department to convey the significance of any identified healthcare access problems and work to determine appropriate solutions to address the problem. Data presented for this purpose will help tailor solutions and shape healthcare policy in the state. In the future, DHCS intends to share data collected and analyzed from the healthcare access monitoring process with the public in the form of annual reports tailored to a general audience.
- Estimated Completion Date: January 2017
California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Not Fully Implemented
1-Year Agency Response
DHCS has completed submission of the dental portion of the data for the monitoring plan submission. However, DHCS is in the process of completing a final compilation of the contributed data. Once compilation has been completed, the Department will be posting the monitoring plan for public availability. A posting date for this monitoring plan is not available at this time however; DHCS will notify stakeholders once it is posted
- Estimated Completion Date: Ongoing
- Response Date: December 2015
California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: Pending
6-Month Agency Response
DHCS will revise its monitoring plan submission to include comparisons of the percentage of child beneficiaries who had at least one dental visit in the past twelve months with the results from the three surveys conducted by other entities as required by the State Plan. The three surveys to be used for comparison are The National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), The Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS), and the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS). DHCS will use the most recent versions of each of these survey reports in its 2012 monitoring report. This effort will allow the Department to convey the significance of any identified healthcare access problems and work to determine appropriate solutions to address the problem. Data presented for this purpose will help tailor solutions and shape healthcare policy in the state. Data collected and analyzed from the healthcare access monitoring process will further be shared with the public in the form of annual reports tailored to a general audience. The estimated completion date for this effort is January 2016.
- Estimated Completion Date: January 2016
- Response Date: August 2015
California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Pending
60-Day Agency Response
DHCS has revised its monitoring plan submission to include comparisons of the percentage of child beneficiaries who had at least one dental visit in the past twelve months with the results from the three surveys conducted by other entities as required by the State Plan. DHCS will use the most recent survey reports in its 2012 monitoring report.
- Estimated Completion Date: Ongoing
- Response Date: February 2015
California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Partially Implemented
All Recommendations in 2013-125
Agency responses received are posted verbatim.