The California Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC) recently finalized regulations that require HMO patients to be seen within certain timeframes for various levels of care. The primary intent of these regulations and the underlying legislation is to require HMOs to ensure that their networks of providers have the capacity and availability to provide care to enrollees in a timely manner.

Although there will not be a full picture of what physicians need to know regarding contracting or implementation for some time, CMA has published a toolkit to help physicians understand these new regulations and what they could mean for their practices.

The toolkit, available to members only at the members-only website, will be regularly updated as new information becomes available.

Contact: CMA’s Member Help Line, 800/ 786-4CMA or jwilliams2@cmanet.org.