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July 28, 2016 | Issue No. 18
Surina Jordan appointed as new Commissioner
to CHRC
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The
CHRC welcomes the addition of Surina Ann Jordan, PhD as a new Commissioner. She
was appointed by Governor Hogan earlier this month. Dr. Jordan has been the President and Senior
Health Advisor for Zima Health, LLC in Baltimore since 2005, where she has used
her extensive nutritional health background to empower individuals to adopt a
healthy lifestyle. She is the author of
three books. In addition to serving on the CHRC, Dr. Jordan also serves as
Chair of the Maryland
State Advisory Council on Physical Fitness. Dr.
Jordan succeeds outgoing Commissioner Paula McLellan, who has served on the
CHRC since 2009.
Garrett County Health
Department to use telehealth to deliver Medication Assisted Therapy in response
to opioid addiction |
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The Garrett County Health Department is launching a new
program this summer that will expand access to Medication Assisted Therapy
(MAT) and will increase the number of MAT providers and providers of buprenorphine. The program is designed to expand the
long-term capacity to deliver integrated behavioral health services in
community-based settings in this rural area of the state. Prior to the program launch, Garrett County’s
Center for Behavioral Health was the only certified addiction treatment service
in the jurisdiction, and the Center worked with the only community provider who
prescribed buprenorphine. Lack of access
results in many residents of Garrett County needing to travel as many as 120
miles per day to access methadone and/or buprenorphine treatment in one of the methadone clinics in Allegany County.
The program is supported with a three-year grant from the
CHRC for $180,000 and utilizes telehealth, a collaboration between the Garrett
County Health Department, and the University of Maryland School of Medicine's
Department of Psychiatry. New
regulations allow substance use disorder providers as originating telehealth
sites to engage with physicians providing buprenorphine services.
For more information about the new
Medicaid telehealth regulations, click here. Based on the ability to bill Medicaid for a
portion of the services provided, the program in Garrett County is designed to
be financially sustainable after the initial CHRC grant funding is
expended.
CHRC has prioritized supporting programs that
expand the capacity to deliver behavioral health services in community-based
settings and are able to achieve post-grant sustainability. Particular emphasis this year was given to
supporting projects that reflected the recommendations of the Governor’s Heroin
and Opioid Emergency Task Force. The
Commission has awarded 31 grants totaling $10 million to promote the
integration of behavioral health services in community-based settings. These grants have supported programs in 16
jurisdictions. For more information
about CHRC’s behavioral health grants, click here.
Health Partners implements
capacity-building grants from CHRC to promote its long-term financial
sustainability |
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Health Partners, a primary care and dental clinic in Charles
County established in 1992, is implementing two grants from the CHRC to
increase access to primary and dental care services for low-income, uninsured,
and newly insured residents of Charles County.
In response to the Affordable Care Act, which increased health insurance
enrollment for thousands of low-income Marylanders including many residents of
Charles County, Health Partners shifted its business model from a traditional
free clinic (which focuses on serving primarily uninsured/self-pay patients) to
a business model that accepts health insurance (Medicaid), provides a sliding
scale for uninsured citizens of Charles County with incomes below 300% of the
Federal Poverty Level, and fee-for-service for all other self-pay patients
based on the current Medicaid rates.
Both grants are designed to enable Health Partners to achieve long-term
financial sustainability. The grants
enabled Health Partners to cover the initial salary costs of new practitioners
as the organization builds its patient base, credentials its providers,
empanels with MCOs, etc., and begins to bill for services. Over the two years of the first grant
(primary care), Health Partners billed Medicaid for more than $115,000 for
health services provided to its Medicaid clients. The program is expected to continue after
CHRC grant funds are expended next year.
In 2015, Health Partners received a second grant to support
its dental program that serves both pediatric and adult patients. In the first
year of the program, Health Partners has provided dental services to more than
1,300 individuals, more than half of whom are on Medicaid. The program has
generated more than $34,000 in Medicaid revenue in its first year.
Increasing the capacity and promoting the
long-term financial sustainability of safety net providers have been key areas
of focus for the CHRC since Maryland began implementing the Affordable Care Act
several years ago. In 2012, the CHRC issued
a business plan with recommendations to assist safety net providers, who have a
historical mission of serving low-income individuals. One key recommendation was promoting safety
net providers in their efforts to transition from grant-based revenue to serving
individuals with health insurance and billing third-party payers. The CHRC has awarded a number of grants to
increase the capacity and promote the long-term financial sustainability of
safety net providers. For information about
these grants, click here.
CHRC and CRISP
launch a technical assistance program for CHRC grantees
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The CHRC and CRISP
are launching a technical assistance program for CHRC grantees that will provide access to CRISP reporting
services, data analytics, population health, and other reports to assist the
grantees in their ongoing efforts to document the impact of their
programs. A webinar will be hosted by CHRC and CRISP on Friday, August 5 at 10:00 am for
CHRC grantees to discuss the services, resources, and technical assistance that
will be available. The webinar will also
include a presentation by Health Care Access Maryland (HCAM), who will describe
the assistance that CRISP has provided to HCAM as they implement the Access Health
Program, which is supported by a three-year grant from the CHRC. There is no charge to participate in the
webinar. CHRC grantees interested in joining the webinar should contact
the CHRC (mark.luckner@maryland.gov/410.260.7046).
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