Best Practices – Quality Assurance Reviewer

Submission date: 8/31/12
Submitted by: Robyn Tourlakis
QAR Name: Mario Arreaga
APD Area: n/a

Practice
As a QAR, Mario has made it a practice to highlight to providers and families, the QAR relationship can extend beyond the review or interview date, being available to them for questions prior to and after reviews  and explains Delmarva has an ongoing customer service representative.  When he gives the provider or family his business card, he discusses  they can visit our website for provider and family resources, and that they can also call our office and request customer service, in English or Spanish, to address any concerns or if they have any questions. He lets them know if they call our office there are managers on site to address any concerns, answer technical questions or refer them to the proper person, agency or resource.

Who benefits from this practice and how?  Providers and individuals/families benefit from this practice.  Providers benefit because they feel more comfortable knowing that the QAR is available to them for questions prior to or after the review, and that if the QAR is not available, they understand a little better that we have internal mechanisms to assist them.  Individuals and families benefit because they are pleased to know that we can be a good resource for them for information.  They feel that if they have any questions they can go to a well known and respected source for accurate information and that they can be pointed in the right direction when questions/issues arise.

How could others apply this in practice?  Just by reminding others that we are customer friendly and have systems in place to assist providers and families, helps a great deal to alleviate some stress and project to others that we are not just reviewers or auditors, but that we want them to do well and are there to assist in any areas that we can.  Mostly, this practice conveys that information is a very powerful resource.