Our Behavioral Health Division picked up a cool $2M (federal) grant from the AZ Department of Housing last month. This $2M plus the $2M we received several months ago, now equals $4M that we’ll be able to use in our bridge subsidy voucher program. Just like in sales, the cornerstone for making public health progress [...]
Beginning October 1, Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System will automatically enroll all Acute Care members into their local Regional Behavioral Health Authority (RBHA) or Tribal RBHA (T/RBHA). The plan eliminates the need for a separate administrative enrollment with the T/RBHA (and the associated paperwork) and streamlines the delivery of services, better integrate physical & behavioral health care. [...]
Folks that receive publicly-funded behavioral health services in Cochise, Santa Cruz, Greenlee and Graham Counties will soon transition to a new Regional Behavioral Health Authority (RBHA). In March, ADHS awarded contracts for all of the areas outside of Maricopa County. We awarded the contract for Cochise, Santa Cruz, Greenlee and Graham Counties to Cenpatico Behavioral [...]
As you recall, the ADHS budget reduction last fiscal year required us to scale back the services we provide to folks who were receiving behavioral health services but don’t qualify for AHCCCS (called Non-Title XIX). We also needed to switch to a “generic formulary” for Non-Title XIX folks on July 1 (which saves about $7M/year). [...]
By working closely with our behavioral health contractors over the last couple of years we’ve been able to make some significant improvements in the quality of care that we’re providing. Examples of our accomplishments are available in newly created outcome dashboards developed by CPSA, NARBHA, Cenpatico and Magellan. The dashboards provide monthly reports using web-based [...]
In early September the Council of State Governments (CSG) will be awarding their highly competitive CSG Awards for innovative practices. Magellan Health Services of Arizona is a regional finalist for the award because of their innovative online provider outcomes dashboard. The dashboard has been a partnership between our Division of Behavioral Services, Magellan and 4 [...]
I’m glad to announce that Rodgers Wilson, MD is our permanent Behavioral Health Medical Director. Dr. Wilson oversees the clinical/prevention and quality management/medical management areas of our behavioral health system. He has spearheaded Quarterly Health Initiatives that address common physical health needs among individuals with behavioral health illnesses and is currently developing collaborative training programs [...]
Last month we approved the renewal of the fifth and final year of the Magellan behavioral health contract in Maricopa County. Before making the decision to grant the 5th year of the contract, our team assessed the progress that has been made in various areas, including access to and coordination of care; grievance and appeal [...]
Some of the folks that we serve in our diverse mission have complicated medical conditions and may have had trouble in the past finding health insurance because of a pre-existing health problem. The new federal healthcare reform law may be able to help some of these folks under the newly created “Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP)”… [...]
Did you know that nearly 1/8 of all emergency department visits in the US are because of a mental disorder, substance abuse problem or both? A new federal report found that depression and other mood disorders accounted for 43% of behavioral health visits, 26% were for anxiety disorders and 23% involved alcohol-related problems. These data are [...]
