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Behavioral Health Resources

Determining Cost of Provider Care – A Useful Business Management Tool – Cost of Care Part 1

Measuring the cost of providing services is critical for making informed business decisions. With the updated District of Columbia Medicaid Fee Schedule moving reimbursement of procedure codes for key behavioral health services from a per-occurrence basis to codes allowing reimbursement based on the amount of time spent providing these services, health care leadership must understand the costs that directly and indirectly support service delivery. This learning session will provide key decision makers, financial analysts, and practice management staff with an understanding of how to determine cost of care and how to compare cost of care with reimbursement rates to inform decision making.

VBP 101 (Teaching to the Tools) – VBP Foundations Part 5

The transition to Value-Based Payment (VBP) represents a multifaceted process, encompassing significant system-level adjustments in healthcare delivery and reimbursement. Effectively implementing these changes requires a methodical and developmental approach. To facilitate this transition, a comprehensive toolkit has been designed, empowering healthcare providers to evaluate their existing readiness and access resources essential for enhancing their capabilities to operate within a value-based payment framework. In this webinar, we will introduce providers to this invaluable toolkit and guide them on how to navigate it seamlessly.

VBP Terminology 101

VBP comes with lots of new vocabulary (and a deluge of new acronyms - including "VBP"). Come learn some of the key words, concepts, and constructs with which to understand VBP.

VBP Levels

Different states (and the Health Care Payment Learning and Action Network) define different types of value-based contracts in different ways. Gain an understanding of the different types of VBPs and the path to them.

Primary Care Integration

Studies have shown that $1 invested in integrating primary and behavioral healthcare will yield $4.50 in savings…and clients and providers both like integrated care better. Learn about the promises and pitfalls of primary and behavioral health integration.

Mergers & Acquisitions

One of the core concepts for VBP is attribution. Come learn about this critical component of the contracting process.

Attribution

One of the core concepts for VBP is attribution. Come learn about this critical component of the contracting process.

Risk Adjustment

CMS has signaled its intent to move from strict fee-for-service reimbursement to value-based payment for Medicaid as it has been actively doing for Medicare over the past decade. A few FQHCs are pursuing advanced alternative payment models on their own but most are choosing to clinically integrate with others, especially other FQHCs. This session will share national experiences from these initiatives and provide a framework for evaluating strategic options for DC FQHCs to progress in their pursuit of advanced alternative payment models.

Promise and Perils of Value Based Purchasing VBP – Behavioral Health VBP Part 1

Value is a function of impact and cost. BH providers provide a very high-impact, relatively low-cost service. As such, payment methodologies that reward value should be an opportunity for them to increase their revenue. But that's a theory that only plays out in practice sometimes. Come learn what BH providers need to do to be successful in a value-based environment.

Engaging Families In Primary Care Behavioral Health (PCBH Series Part 12)

PCBH services not only facilitate change at the individual level but impact the family system. Conversely, family engagement in PCBH services can expedite the achievement and sustainability of an individual’s health goals. Strategies will be discussed that can help enhance family engagement within the PCBH model of care.

Integrated Care DC Managed Care Readiness Workshop

View materials from this event hosted by Department of Health Care Finance, DBH Training Institute, & Integrated Care DC on May 9, 2023. The in-person workshop was designed for behavioral health providers and other organizations seeking to prepare for the integration of behavioral health into the District’s Medicaid Managed Care Program. Presenters shared information and facilitated exercises to help leadership, clinical and operational staff, and other stakeholders develop the organizational competencies needed to succeed in managed care, including an understanding of managed care principles, how to communicate effectively with managed care partners, and how to effectively demonstrate the value of care through quality measurement and population health.

New Diagnosis of a Chronic Medical Condition (PCBH Series Part 11)

The diagnosis of a long-term health condition can be frightening and overwhelming for many people. Behavioral health professionals working in integrated care settings have the unique opportunity to intervene early to assist individuals with adjusting and adapting to the new demands for behavior change that accompany a new diagnosis.

LGBTQ+ Cultural Competency Training Part 1

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning/queer (LGBTQ+) individuals are frequently underserved and experience significant disparities in health outcomes and accessing preventive and ongoing healthcare. Sexual and gender minorities (SGM) often experience discrimination and bias in health care settings and may delay or avoid medical and preventive care. Developing safe, culturally competent healthcare environments and practices for LGBTQ+ patients is critical and closely related to individuals’ willingness to openly share their sexual orientation and/or gender identity and expression (SOGIE). Capturing SOGIE data is critical as it allows providers to have a more comprehensive picture of key factors that influence care. This session will start with a brief discussion of SOGIE terminology and a compilation of what is known about medical and behavioral health needs and disparities among the LGBTQ+ community. We will highlight the critical need for creating environments that improve patients’ psychological safety and increase their willingness to share SOGIE characteristics. We will share examples of how this data could be utilized to improve care and patient satisfaction, including capturing a patient’s preferred name and pronouns, and ways to engage in respectful conversations that could reveal key aspects of their medical history that could otherwise go unnoticed.

Dosing and Titrating Care (PCBH Series Part 10)

A core skill in caring for patients in primary care is the ability to dose and titrate care for individual patients in a way that produces quality outcomes for the patient and allows a provider to care for populations of patients effectively. This session will increase the mindfulness and skills clinicians employ for dosing and titrating care from within the PCBH model.

Addressing Grief in PCBH (PCBH Series Part 9)

Loss and grief are common and often come up during primary care encounters. Grief can be caused by separations, incapacity, bereavement, migration, job loss, birth, retirement, or professional loss. We will focus on addressing grief related to the loss of a loved one in this webinar. One-third of people affected by loss can experience physical or mental health problems, such as increased risk of heart disease, suicide, psychosomatic disorders, and psychiatric issues. However, loss can also lead to personal growth. Behavioral Health Consultants can help PCPs and patients prepare for grief and build coping skills for better health outcomes.

Treatment Planning (Quality & Population Health Series, Part 2)

We often think of the treatment plan as a document to complete. However, it can be a tool to engage and empower the person served in their own recovery process. In this interactive webinar we will learn the core components of the treatment planning process from a person-centered and engagement-focused lens.

Guiding: Using Motivational Interviewing Skills to Guide Conversations (Motivational Interviewing Series, Part 2)

There are three main approaches to helping people make a change, directing, following, and a middle-of-the-road approach of guiding. Motivational Interviewing (MI) promotes guiding as an approach to discovering and uncovering an individual’s motivations, concerns, values, and options. This refresher workshop will provide the opportunity to directly practice using MI skills to build discrepancy and move conversations towards enhancing commitment to change.

Quality Measurement Basics: And Why it Matters (Quality & Population Health Series, Part 1)

Understanding, measuring, working to improve quality performance are critical to ensuring that patients have positive outcomes and providers are satisfied—they’re also critical to ensure your practice is meeting its regulatory requirements and maximizing payment opportunities. As the District of Columbia carves in behavioral health care to managed care arrangements and requires more providers to be in value-based care arrangements, it is even more imperative that quality measurement and improvement is understood and infused across your organization—from providers, to leaders, to auxiliary staff. This two-part series will describe the quality measurement basics and why it matters, and then treatment planning for population health. In Part 1, we will explore why we need to infuse a culture of quality within healthcare organizations, including an understanding of what we value, who we serve, and who we are accountable to. Presenters will emphasize the importance of all staff understanding quality and its impact on our patients, staff and organization. We will review the basics of measurement and key measures in quality focused on integrated care.

Is a 20-minute consultation realistic? (PCBH Series Part 8)

In making the transition from practicing outpatient behavioral health to primary care behavioral health, clinicians often wonder, how can I do my work in 20 minutes, and is it really possible to make a meaningful difference in this amount of time? This training answers this question directly by simulating a 20 minute behavioral health consultation and discussing as a group each stage of the encounter, best practices, and the strengths and challenges that arise.

Sustainable Trauma Treatment: How Accelerated Resolution Therapy can be Utilized in a PCBH Setting to Effectively Treat Trauma (PCBH Part 7)

Evidence-based modalities developed to treat trauma are commonplace in outpatient behavioral health practices, but we often struggle to adapt these therapies to the integrated care setting where brief intervention is common. In this session, we will present Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) as a useful tool for treating trauma in an integrated setting. Accelerated Resolution Therapy has been shown to achieve benefits rapidly, usually within 1-5 sessions, and is effective in treating PTSD and complex trauma as well as other mental health problems such as anxiety, depression, phobias, grief, chronic pain, and relationship issues. We will explore the basics of Accelerated Resolution Therapy, highlight examples of how it has been used effectively in the primary care setting, and discuss both benefits and barriers to implementing this modality. We will focus on the compatibility of this therapy as a brief intervention within the PCBH model and the particular benefit of sustainability as Accelerated Resolution Therapy reduces exposure to vicarious trauma – critical to clinician self-care and preservation in these trying times.
Integrated Care DC is managed by the DC Department of Health Care Finance (DHCF) in partnership with the DC Department of Behavioral Health (DBH). This project is supported by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). A total of $3,500,365, or 81 percent, of the project is financed with federal funds, and $810,022, or 19 percent, is funded by non-federal sources. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, or an endorsement by, HHS or the U.S. Government.