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Bi-directional Integration Demonstration & Practice-based Research Pilot Program

The Colorado State Innovation Model (SIM) touches nearly every aspect of our health system, setting the stage for a sweeping transformation that will help us accelerate our progress toward the Triple Aim of lower costs, better care and improved population health. Colorado’s plan, entitled “The Colorado Framework,” creates a system of clinic-based and public health supports to spur innovation. The state will improve the health of Coloradans by:

1. Providing access to integrated primary care and behavioral health services in coordinated community systems;

2. Applying value-based payment structures;

3. Expanding information technology efforts, including telehealth; and

4. Finalizing a state-wide plan to improve population health.

Colorado’s SIM is being executed by the State of Colorado and a broad range of stakeholders across the public and private sectors toward a common goal:

To improve the health of Coloradans by providing access to integrated physical & behavioral health services in coordinated systems, with value-based payment structures, for 80% of Colorado residents by 2019.

To join in this important goal, the Colorado Behavioral Healthcare Council (CBHC) is facilitating a subgrant program within the Colorado SIM initiative to pilot integrated health homes within four Community Mental Health Center (CMHC) settings. Through the Bi-directional Integration Demonstration & Practice-based Research Pilot Program, the four selected CMHCs will provide comprehensive behavioral and physical health care to children, adolescents, and adults to stabilize and manage their illness and support recovery.

To learn more about the Colorado SIM office, please visit their website.

 

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Participating Members

In partnership with the Colorado SIM Office, CBHC was pleased to announce the four sites selected for the Bi-Directional Integration Demonstration and Practice-Based Research Pilot Program within the larger Colorado SIM initiative in November 2015. The sites are listed below (in alphabetical order):

Community Reach Center (CRC), a private, nonprofit community mental health center, is one of the premier integrated health providers in the north Denver area. For the bi-directional pilot program, CRC is partnering with Salud Family Health Centers, a Federally Qualified Health Center serving communities in northeastern Colorado, and Dental Lifeline Network, a leading oral health provider. CRC and Salud have a strong history of collaboration and offer a highly-developed system of integrated care. In December 2014, the three partners collaborated to place a medical clinic within the CRC Commerce City Outpatient Clinic. The SIM funding is transforming this clinic into a fully integrated health home. This pilot focuses on serving individuals in the Commerce City community with serious and persistent mental illness.

Jefferson Center for Mental Health (Jefferson Center) is the private, nonprofit community mental health center serving Jefferson, Gilpin, and Clear Creek counties. Jefferson Center is partnering with the Metro Community Provider Network (MCPN), the local Federally Qualified Health Center, to create the Jefferson Plaza Family Health Home in Lakewood, Colorado. The two partner agencies have a strong history of collaboration on other integration projects – some spanning over two decades. This pilot project is helping to extend the current integration efforts to an even larger population. The Jefferson Plaza Family Health Home (JPFHH) primarily serves children and families who lack a primary care provider and would benefit from integrated care. This includes individuals with serious mental illness, serious emotional disorders, and substance use disorders, as well as those with less severe behavioral health needs. The JPFHH is also offering family health coaching and wellness services.

Mental Health Partners (MHP) is a private, nonprofit community mental health center that has provided mental healthcare for over 50 years to the local underserved population in Boulder and Broomfield counties. MHP is expanding its long and successful partnership with Clinica Family Health Services, the local Federally Qualified Health Center, and its newer partnership with Dental Aid, a comprehensive dental care provider, to create the multi-agency collaborative, Boulder Health Integration Partners (BHIP). BHIP is leveraging funding from SIM and other sources to create a sustainable, integrated health home for adults with serious mental illness and/or co-occurring substance use disorders in the City of Boulder. And, through our collaborative partnership, we share a vision of creating a healthcare experience that is simple and seamless, inspires self-confidence and results in superior health and life outcomes for adults with serious behavioral health concerns. We will serve not only those who currently receive care but also the underserved in our community, such as Hispanic individuals, homeless individuals and those with cognitive impairments due to their mental health conditions.

Southeast Health Group (SHG) is the private, nonprofit community mental health center providing mental health, substance use, primary care, and wellness services to the six-county, rural and frontier region in the southeastern corner of Colorado, including the counties of Baca, Bent, Crowley, Kiowa, Otero, and Prowers. Since 2013, SHG has sustained a successful primary care program within its La Junta behavioral health home. The SIM pilot provides an opportunity for SHG to expand this integrated health home model across all six counties with access to bi-directional services in the La Junta, Rocky Ford, Lamar, and Las Animas offices. With the addition of another primary care team, SHG will reduce the wait list for primary care services from 3 weeks to 2 weeks. The SHG Integrated Health Home is targeting individuals living with one or more chronic health conditions, including a behavioral health disorder and is providing a full continuum of comprehensive physical health, behavioral health, and wellness services.

This was a highly competitive application process that clearly demonstrated the strength, innovation, and dedication of Colorado’s behavioral health network. To read the full press release, please click here.

Current Happenings

  • The SIM Policy Workgroup has released two policy briefs – one on suicide prevention and one on how broadband use affects healthcare. You can download them here.

 

 

Resources

Please contact us for more information about the Bi-Directional Integration Pilot Program!

Emily Haller, BA
SIM Program Coordinator
Colorado Behavioral Healthcare Council
ehaller@cbhc.org

Hannah Brady, BS
SIM Project Assistant
Colorado Behavioral Healthcare Council
hbrady@cbhc.org

The Project described was supported by Funding Opportunity Number CMS-1G1-14-001 from the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The Colorado State Innovation Model (SIM, a four-year initiative, is funded by up to $65 million from CMS. The content provided is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of HHS or any of its agencies.