The tumblers have clicked, and we’re well down the road of significantly improving the behavioral health system in Maricopa County. A few months ago, we joined forces with Magellan of Arizona (our contractor for behavioral health services in Maricopa County) to begin development of a revolutionary new outcomes dashboard that will improve transparency & accountability in our behavioral health system. The system is now up and running, and you can check it out at the Provider outcomes dashboard site.
The provider outcomes dashboard measures the key elements that improve actual life outcomes for folks that are being treated for serious mental illnesses. The dashboard provides near real-time data for 18 outcome indicators at each of the clinics that provide behavioral health services in Maricopa County. Indicators that folks can view and compare include employment, staffing and caseload ratios, recipient/patient satisfaction, individual service plan quality, primary care and physician follow-up, admissions and readmissions data, court ordered treatment compliance, individuals’ community reintegration and involvement, and much more. The dashboard can be reached quickly at any time by using the URL www.MagellanofAZ.com/dashboards.
The online dashboard provides key information for our service recipients and their families as well as the providers themselves. The dashboard measures areas that are working well and those that need improvement. Magellan’s 4 adult provider network organizations (CHOICES Network, People of Color Network, Partners In Recovery Network and Southwest Network) collaborated in the development and implementation of the dashboard.
The bottom line- the new dashboard gives folks in the behavioral health system a way to evaluate their treatment options and provides them information to make better choices for them; it gives Magellan an easy to use way of better managing their provider networks; and it gives the ADHS a way top better evaluate the performance of the entire system and to make interventions when necessary. It gives everybody transparency into the system and its performance. It will also allow the provider networks to see how each other are doing in the various 18 areas of performance- sparking healthy competition. We think that this new tool will become an expectation throughout the country and in Arizona moving forward. Well done Team!
