ConcertoHealth® Enhances Behavioral Health Services in its Field-Based Primary Care Support Model
Addressing Behavioral Risks and Disorders Responsible for Tripling to Quadrupling Total Health Care Costs
ALISO VIEJO, Calif., April 2, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- ConcertoHealth, the leading provider of specialized primary care and supporting clinical services for vulnerable, frail and elderly patients, today announced it is incorporating additional behavioral health services into its field-based Primary Care Support Platform in Michigan and Washington. The new focus integrates clinical care with behavioral health and health coaching services to offer high-touch, individualized primary and preventive care for vulnerable patients as an extension of the services ConcertoHealth provides primary care practices on behalf of health plans.
Social and behavioral determinants such as poverty, smoking, mental illness and substance abuse contribute to rising health care costs and are root causes of decreasing health and life expectancy in the United States, according to national statisticsi. An analysis of ConcertoHealth's claims data found that health care costs for patients living with behavioral health conditions were three to four times higher than for patients without a behavioral health issue.
To address the social and behavioral needs of its patient population, ConcertoHealth is undertaking a three-phase initiative to integrate evidence-based behavioral health services in 2019 using motivational interviewing (MI) and the University of Washington's collaborative care model, evidence-based strategies for addressing behavioral health issues.
"We're pleased at the prospect of training our team in these highly valued, cutting-edge approaches to health promotion and disease prevention," said Christopher Dodd, MD-MS, ConcertoHealth's chief clinical officer. "Our team and our patients deserve the best care we can deliver."
For patients with positive screens, trained ConcertoHealth coaches will employ MI to help patients with various chronic medical and behavioral disorders commit to healthier behaviors. They will use collaborative care to address patients' anxiety and depression. These approaches are documented to improve outcomes for mood and anxiety disorders and to help patients quit smoking, reduce unhealthy substance use and improve their self-management of common chronic conditions such as heart failure, COPD and diabetes.
Richard L. Brown, MD, MPH, ConcertoHealth's senior medical director, Population Health Management, will lead the initiative and training. During his career, Dr. Brown has trained hundreds of health care professionals in MI and collaborative care with high trainee satisfaction and documented effectiveness in improving health outcomes and reducing costs. The new model for behavioral health services will be rolled out in three phases:
- In phase one, Dr. Brown will lead the delivery of comprehensive MI training within the ConcertoHealth field-based care teams.
- During phase two, select members of the ConcertoHealth team will be trained to administer evidence-based behavioral health screens, MI and collaborative care to high-risk patients.
- In the final phase, ConcertoHealth will integrate professionals with expertise in counseling and psychiatry into its established care pathways.
The addition of behavioral health services to ConcertoHealth's care model will extend the company's high-touch, individualized care for patients to a deeper level, addressing root causes of patients' health problems.
About ConcertoHealth
ConcertoHealth Inc. is the leading provider of specialized primary care and supporting clinical services for vulnerable, frail and elderly patients. ConcertoHealth provides high-touch, individualized care for patients and deploys wraparound clinical resources to extend the reach of primary care providers. Operating exclusively in value-based agreements, the ConcertoHealth care model, elevated by Patient3D, improves overall health quality and outcomes for high-need patient populations. The ConcertoHealth care model is proven to reduce admissions by 30.3 percent and readmissions by 17.1 percent, benefitting patients, payers and their provider networks alike. The company is headquartered in Aliso Viejo, California.
i National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/24624.
SOURCE ConcertoHealth
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