1. Complete Behavioral Health Continuum of Care
Ensure a complete and coordinated Mat-Su Behavioral Health continuum of care based on the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Good and Modern Mental Health and Addiction System. This system is illustrated below:
[IMAGE]
The Behavioral Health Environmental Scan, Report 2 published by the Mat-Su Health Foundation in 2015 outlined gaps in the system and has since funded local agencies to fill some of these gaps:
Prevention services – Onward and Upward, CCS Early Learning
Mat-Su Borough School District City of Wasilla Early Intervention services – Sunshine Community Health Center; Mat-Su Health Services
University of Alaska Anchorage, Mat-Su College, Ptarmigan Pediatrics, Set Free, Cook Inlet Tribal Council Inc., several local schools
Detox services – Lazarus Project Treatment for children 0-3 years of age – CODI
Family behavioral health services – CODI, Set Free
Intensive support and recovery services for individuals with mental illness
Integrated primary care and behavioral healthcare – Sunshine Health Clinic, Ptarmigan Pediatrics
Residential adult substance abuse treatment – Set Free Crisis prevention and treatment services – Crisis Intervention Team Coalition
Community Support and Coordination – Fiend to Clean, Alaska Youth and Family Network, My House, Mat-Su High Utilizer Program, Mat-Su Multi-Disciplinary Team
The Foundation also helps providers in the continuum of care stay are coordinated by holding quarterly facilitated convenings to seek solutions to identified system problems.
Systems Work
High Utilizer Mat-Su (HUMS) Program
Started on January 1. 2018, the HUMS Program was created to serve individuals who used the Mat-Su Regional Medical Center Emergency Department frequently. In 2016, 685 patients were seen at the emergency department five or more times in that year. The annual estimated emergency department facility charges per patient was $33,077.
The HUMS program has the following goals:
Improve appropriate patient care experience
Decrease inappropriate emergency department and emergency medical services utilization
Improve high-utilizer access to appropriate outpatient-based care
Creation of customized patient-specific care plans that will be immediately available to emergency service and outpatient providers throughout the state of Alaska
Improve communication and care management of all entities involved in a particular patient’s care
Reduce cost of care per patient by improving resource utilization
HUMS is managed by LINKS/ADRC and funded by the Mat-Su Health Foundation.
Mat-Su Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT)
Ten local professionals gather monthly to discuss solutions to complex health problems experienced by Mat-Su residents who repeatedly use the emergency department (ED) for their non-emergent health care needs. This team includes the local emergency system (EMS), the emergency department at Mat-Su Regional Medical Center (MSRMC), the Palmer Therapeutic Court, and case management and information and referral agencies and local health clinics.
Crisis Intervention Team Training Academy
In partnership with the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority the MSHF sponsored the first Mat-Su training academy in 2017. The Academy brings together law enforcement, mental health and addiction professionals and those who live with mental illness and/or addiction disorders, their families, and other advocates. First responders are trained on how to understand common signs and symptoms of mental illness and co-occurring disorders; recognize when those signs and symptoms represent a crisis situation; safely de-escalate individuals experiencing behavioral health crisis; and utilize community resources and diversion strategies to provide assistance. There will be another training academy offered in 2018.
Behavioral Health Beds at Mat-Su Regional Medical Center
In 2017, Mat-Su Regional Medical Center (https://www.matsuregional.com/), of which the Mat-Su Health Foundation is part-owner, applied for and was approved a Certificate of Need through the State of Alaska to add 36 in-patient behavioral health beds to provide adult psychiatric and substance abuse treatment. Planning for construction of this project is currently under way.
2. Integrated Care
Promote behavioral health integration and improve coordination between medical and behavioral health care sectors to improve patient outcomes. The integration of behavioral health and primary care has the potential to greatly improve the health of the general population and reducer per capita healthcare costs. SAMHSA proposes an integration framework with six levels of integration. The ideal form of integration is where primary care and behavioral health providers are employed by the same organization, located in the same place, with high levels of collaboration and integration. They function as a true team with frequent communication and they view themselves as a single health care system that treats the whole person. The Mat-Su Health Foundation supports integration through the following efforts: Support for behavioral health integration in Mat-Su through policy and regulatory change at the state and local levels Grants to Sunshine Community Health Center and Mat-Su Health Services to develop medical and behavioral health medical records that promote integration.
3. Reduce Alcohol Abuse
According to a report by the McDowell Group, “The economic costs of alcohol abuse in Alaska total billions of dollars each year. Costs to society include increased health care costs, increased criminal justice system costs, lost or reduced workplace productivity, greater spending on public assistance and social services, and a range of other impacts. This study measures these and other tangible economic costs associated with alcohol abuse.
The misuse of alcohol also has a wide range of intangible costs, in terms of diminished quality of life, pain and suffering of crime victims and others, and a spectrum of additional qualitative costs. While several measures of these types of costs are described in this report, calculating the full extent of intangible human costs resulting from alcohol abuse (such as pain, suffering, and bereavement) is beyond the scope of this study.
The Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority contracted with McDowell Group to update its series of prior studies
Systems Work
Recover Alaska
The Mat-Su Health Foundation actively sponsors and participates in Recover Alaska (http://recoveralaska.org/), a partnership of organizations and individuals dedicated to reducing the harm associated with alcohol abuse as well as connecting those who need/treatment/information to the help they need. The vision of Recover Alaska is that Alaskans live free from the consequences of alcohol abuse, so we are empowered to achieve our full potential.
Connect Mat-Su
The Connect Mat-Su Community Resource Center Network, developed and funded by the Mat-Su Health Foundation, offers all Mat-Su residents information about substance abuse treatments options.
4. Provider Sustainability under Medicaid Reform
Support local providers to continue to be sustainable under Medicaid Reform. The ever- changing funding environment necessitates that providers have a high degree of capacity to adapt to changes in funding streams and reimbursement systems. The Mat-Su Health Foundation is working to support local providers to continue to be sustainable under Medicaid reform.
Systems Work
Medicaid Waiver
Serving on Statewide work groups and submitting input into the 1115 Waiver application written by the State Division of Behavioral Health.
Technical Support for Grantees
The Mat-Su Health Foundation grants funding for organizations to access expert consultant to ensure their organizations have strong financial, organizational, and clinical practices. It also provides opportunities for local providers to keep informed about changes in the system and how to position their organization to thrive in the new system.