CUNY’s Health Policy Center for Innovation in Mental Health has partnered with Manhattan-based nonprofit Coordinated Behavioral Care.
CBC provides services to improve the quality of care for individuals with mental illness, chronic health conditions and substance-use disorders. It operates a Health Home, through which more than 50 community-based organizations provide care coordination for tens of thousands of adults and children on Medicaid, and an independent practice association of primary care, behavioral health and other services. The partnership with CUNY, announced Tuesday, will focus on evaluating CBC’s programs, conducting quality-improvement initiatives and establishing best practices.
“This partnership will allow us to shine a light on the innovative practices, programs and services that exist within the CBC network, and with the help of CIMH, we will be able to offer a more formal evaluation structure that will allow these efforts to be scaled to impact practice delivery, influence policy and inform needed alternative payment initiatives and [value-based purchasing],” said Dr. Jorge Petit, president and CEO Of CBC, in a statement.
Individuals who enroll in a Health Home are matched with a care manager who can help them make and attend medical and behavioral health appointments as well as find food and housing benefits, among other tasks, according to CBC. Health Home members are more likely to receive preventive care, less likely to overuse expensive emergency rooms and less likely to require hospital admission. —Jennifer Henderson