New York Health Plan Association, a trade organization for health insurers in New York State, had a need for research related to the surge in diabetes cases in New York State and the inability to institute Quality Assurance models among New York’s Family Practice physicians.
Metrix was retained to study these phenomena and came up with an innovative research design that captured opinions from two extremely difficult, and very disparate audiences to reach – physicians and obese African American teens.
For the physicians, Metrix conducted dozens of lengthy one-on-one interviews with physicians by telephone, often dealing with numerous no-shows or last-minute rescheduling from the physicians. Many of them required four phone contacts before an interview could actually take place.
For the teens, Metrix conducted mall intercepts, did a quick preliminary interview in the mall, and then invited teens who met certain criteria to participate in a focus group at a mall facility. Both studies required parental consent.
The results provided valuable insights into why relatively few physicians participated in QA programs and why so few teens embraced weight reduction strategies that had been tried in schools and communities.