QUALIFIED PROVIDER NETWORK

SUBCOMMITTEE

OF THE LME

September23, 2002

3:00 p.m.

711 Executive Place ; Board Room

PRESENT:            Vince Wagner, Director – Managed Care (chair), CCMHC

                                Densie Lucas, Assistant Area Director, CCMHC

Terry Eads, Director – MIS, CCMHC

                                Terri Knight, Director – Developmental Disabilities Services, CCMHC

                                Debbie Jenkins, Director – Child and Family Services, CCMHC

                                William H. Robinson, Director – Residential Services, CCMHC

                                Chris Dempster, Roxie Avenue Administrator, CCMHC

                                Stacy Martin, Clerk to the Area Board, CCMHC

                                Karen Campbell, Campbell & Associates

                                Daniel Muldrow, Main Focus

                                Richard Varela, KV Consultants and Associates

                                Alice Carter, Loving Care Habilitation Services

                                Letsie Generette, RACA Services and Bryan and Associates

                                B. James Scantling, Peterkin & Associations and IPA                                         

 I.              Welcome                              

• Vince welcomed everyone to the meeting and extended his appreciation for members taking time out of their busy schedules to participate.

 II.            Introductions

• Vince introduced himself and asked everyone to go around the room and introduce themselves.

III.           Announcements

                None

IV.           Agenda Adjustments

• Minutes from meeting held on September 16, 2002 were accepted as written.

 V.            Update from “Training/Technical Assistance/Education Subcommittee”

• Mr. Varela reported that the subcommittee met on September 19^th at CCMHC and were limited to what they could do as he did not receive the matrix via email or disk from Mrs. Jenkins that he felt would help them complete their task.  Ms. Jenkins provided this to him on disk today prior to the end of the meeting.

• Mr. Varela reported that he does not wish to disclose the thoughts of the committee members at this time and will wait until their draft is complete and will present at next week’s meeting.

• Mrs. Jenkins reported that there is a new grid put out by the State which makes reference, by page number, back to the State Plan.  Mr. Wagner distributed this grid to committee members as it was already listed for discussion under Agenda Item VII (See ATTACHMENT A).

• There was a discussion regarding the competencies and Mrs. Jenkins informed committee members that they are listed on the web and are quite extensive with seven domains covering 108 pages.

• Mr. Varela commented that if the objective of the LME is to begin divesting of services of state- or county-run services, why not start “farming out” to the private providers in the community immediately as a “good faith gesture to keep private providers in the community afloat.”

• Mr. Wagner responded that divestiture of services will be written into the plan and that the plan will specify timelines.  But first the LME must identify gaps in services and gain knowledge about what services are available in the community by private providers.

• Ms. Lucas said that some of this already happens through consumer choice.

• Mr. Varela also led a discussion regarding CCMHC staff postured in the courtroom to receive referrals for DWI services and asked about the future of CCMHC staff being present in the courtroom and how other providers can have the same benefit.  Mr. Dempster and Mrs. Jenkins both responded that oftentimes, CCMHC referral is ordered by the court which results in CCMHC absorbing the cost; and sometimes, it is the lawyers themselves who personally request CCMHC.

Regarding residential referrals, Mrs. Jenkins pointed out that there are 290 level III beds in the community.  Only 50-60 kids in the community required Level III.  There is a need to look at what the demand is in the community and try to find some way to create services that don’t currently exist but are needed.  Additionally, there are some facilities who will not except referrals of children with certain diagnoses and needs because of the liability associated which leaves CCMHC to serve these children.

Mr. Wagner commented that the agency has no intention to stonewall the plan, but clients will require a smooth transition.  We don’t want clients, providers, or staff put in harms way in the midst of divesting services. 

Mr. Muldrow asked what kind of training the LME will be responsible for providing.  Mrs. Jenkins responded that technical assistance and guidance will be given to providers.  However, the LME will not be training new facilities regarding how to open their facilities.

Ms. Lucas reminded members that the committees’ roles are not to ensure Area Program and other providers stay in business, it’s to put a plan in place.

• The next meeting of the subcommittee is scheduled for Monday, September 30, 2002 at 2:00 p.m. in CCMHC’s Conference Room (first floor of 711 Executive Place )

 VI.           Discussion of Qualified Provider Network Grid Comments/Ideas for Implementation

• Mrs. Jenkins commented that Centerpoint has a best practices model that they have developed over a period of several years.

• Mrs. Jenkins informed members that there will be a meeting among CCMHC staff and the County to discuss the plan and what will fall back on the LME and the ultimately the County to provide and what this means from a financial standpoint.

• There was discussion regarding the need to look at the infrastructure of the LME to manage the network, to bundle billing, and to handle reporting to the State.

Can’t say today how many staff will be needed to function as the LME.

Need to know the number of clients CCMHC will have to serve as well as the capacity for the community to serve clients.

• There was a question regarding the LME providing courtesy inspections.  Members were informed that the LME will be conducting official inspections only.

• Mr. Muldrow asked what is being done to determine who can serve both the target and non-target populations.  Mrs. Jenkins responded that there is a subcommittee of the Planning and Collaboration Committee who are putting together a survey to determine the community’s capacity to offer free resources.

-               The most recent draft of the survey was distributed to members for perusal (see ATTACHMENT B).

-               Mrs. Jenkins reported that the subcommittee was amazed to learn of the number of resources in the community who provide free counseling services.

-               Mr. Muldrow asked if the LME will be providing grant writing workshops or assistance for those community resources who are willing to provide non-paid services to the non-target population but do not have the funds to do so.  Mrs. Jenkins responded that the LME will not be able to do this but did offer the names of a few resources that do offer this type of assistance.

·         Mr. Wagner asked that any committee members who had comments or questions concerning the grid to submit them to Mrs. Martin for consideration when writing the plan.

VII.         Review State Scoring Grid

·         Mr. Wagner provided the grid (referenced in Agenda Item V, denoted as ATTACHMENT A), stating that he was providing it as information on how this committee will write/produce/format the plan for submission to the State.

VIII.        Review Qualified Provider Network Questionnaire.

·         Mr. Wagner distributed a draft of a simple questionnaire he proposes utilizing to gauge the interest of local providers.  (See ATTACHMENT C)

·         Mr. Wagner informed members that he has a comprehensive list of providers in the community and once the committee approves the questionnaire, he will mail it out along with a memo briefly explaining the intent.

·         Mrs. Jenkins commented insuring the letter conveys that this is a letter of interest and is not in any way intended to serve as application to the provider network.

·         Committee members recommended changing the title of the questionnaire to “Survey of Interest for Possible Providers.”

·         Intend to set up forums and focus groups to disseminate information.  Intend to begin this process sometime in November, and will hold a meeting quarterly thereafter.  Mr. Wagner commented that some Phase I LME’s haven’t even begun marketing or holding meetings and do not intend to until November or December.

·         Mr. Wagner will revamp the survey and bring back to the next meeting for final approval.

·         Mrs. Jenkins shared contents of a Provider Network Application being used by another Area Program stating that it is quite exhaustive.  Mr. Varela confirmed that the applications he’s seen from other Area Programs are quite extensive spanning several pages.

·         Ms. Campbell asked how new providers are to demonstrate years worth of outcomes and satisfaction surveys.  Mrs. Jenkins responded that this is why the plan is spread over a seven-year period because they know that new providers will need time to develop this data.

IX.           Round Robin

                There was no discussion on this topic.

X.            Next Meeting

·         The next meeting is scheduled for Monday, September 30, 2002 ; 1:00 p.m.

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