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System Transformation in Substance Use Disorder Care: New York State Progress and Priorities
The Surgeon General’s Report on Alcohol, Drugs, and Health (https://addiction.surgeongeneral.gov), issued in November 2016, is a landmark report for the substance use disorder (SUD) care system. This report makes clear the importance of identifying and treating substance use disorders and places...
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Grassroots Advocacy: Addiction Recovery Support in New York State
The recently released 413-page, Surgeon General’s Report, “Facing Addiction in America – Alcohol, Drugs & Health,” (the first report of its kind to focus on the public health crisis of addiction) is being compared to the 1964 Surgeon General’s Report on Smoking credited with millions...
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The New Normal: How We Learned to Love and Understand Data
Data. The world today is all about data. With the transformation of the Medicaid payment system into a more value-based approach, the need for understanding data has taken a higher priority at many agencies, including ICL. Managed Care Organizations (MCOs) are making arrangements with agencies that...
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Beacon’s Unique Staffing to Facilitate System Reform in New York State
Since 1997, Beacon been a valued partner and thought leader for managed care plans, local and state agencies, and provider and consumer stakeholder groups in New York State, enabling Beacon to execute programming that achieves the intended goals of New York’s Medicaid Redesign Team. Our...
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The NYSPA Report: Taking Stock and Taking Leave
Advocacy must be unending, ongoing work because there is always more to accomplish and always the danger that hard-won gains may be undone. For the past 14 years I have either written or edited the work of guest columnists for the quarterly NYSPA Report in Behavioral Health News (BHN) or in Mental...
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WellLife Network – A New Name and Strategy Reflects New Priorities and Directions for Leading Health & Human Services Agency
It’s a time of change, challenge and an opportunity for accomplishment. For individuals and families coping with a wide range of mental health, intellectual disabilities and drug addiction issues, human service agencies continue to seek viable solutions while facing new scrutiny from government...
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Transforming Behavioral Health Systems of Care to Improve Outcomes and Promote Value
Many state and county Medicaid programs are considering the implementation of managed care models in their behavioral health care systems in order to ensure consistent quality outcomes for their residents with a mental health condition or substance use disorder. As a national leader in managed...
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Systems Transformation in Progress: Promise and Pitfalls
A couple of months ago I attended a conference in Albany in order to learn of the latest developments in the state’s movement toward a “value based” healthcare delivery system. Monica Oss, Chief Executive Officer of Open Minds, a publication that explores the intricacies of behavioral...
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CCBHC as a Roadmap for Behavioral Health Leadership and Participation within Accountable Delivery Systems
Uncertainty about the future state of publicly-funded health care is widespread following the presidential election. However, the design of accountable delivery systems committed to comprehensive, cost effective care continues to have bipartisan support. Such systems demand a full array of health,...
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Consumer Perspectives on Change: for Better or for Worse
We were asked to consider whether changes in the way we receive and respond to behavioral health services has been for better or for worse, now that Medicaid Managed Care is the order of the day. It was a tough conversation because at the beginning, some of us really felt like we hadn’t even...
