HISTORY

In 2017, NYS awarded funds to 19 regional networks called Behavioral Health Care Collaboratives (BHCCs) to ensure that behavioral health providers are prepared for the payment changes. The Neighborhood Center, Inc. was $1.7 million to develop the Mohawk Valley BHCC, a network of service providers in eight counties that will come together to enhance our region’s infrastructure to ensure that services are patient-centered, recovery oriented, data-driven, evidence-based, and are delivered in a coordinated way. 

A primary goal of BHCC funding is the development of infrastructure that prepares behavioral health providers for the shift in payment structures from a “fee-for-service” model to a quality and outcomes-based structure (Value Based Payment [VBP]). To this end, BHCCs have are talked with: 

1. 1. Establishing an Independent Practice Association (IPA) that can legally negotiate and contract with managed care organizations on behalf of its members.
2. Enhancing coordinated care throughout the region to ensure that individuals are experiencing quality care across all systems (health, mental health, substance use, non-clinical services)
3. Establishing an approach to data that will allow the IPA to understand its performance on quality measures that will soon drive payment. 

In 2019 the network focused on building infrastructure, filing the legal paperwork needed for the development of the IPA, and engaging in discussions that ultimately led to an inclusive governance and membership structure that places importance on collaboration. The network officially formed an IPA as of December 2019, with a Board of Directors and several committees focused on moving through work of the project. 

Committees used data on key performance measures to identify opportunities for improvement, which became the impetus for a Clinical Integration Project focusing on improving rates of follow up at 7 and 30 days after discharge for individuals seen in the emergency department for substance-use related challenges.