REQUEST FOR LETTERS OF INTEREST: Technical Assistance for Implementing Open Access Release Date: January 8, 2018 Letter Due Date: February 15, 2018 Issued by: Behavioral Health System Baltimore, Inc. 100 South Charles Street, Tower II, 8 th Floor Baltimore, MD 21201 1
Technical Assistance for Implementing Open Access PURPOSE OF THIS REQUEST FOR LETTERS OF INTEREST Behavioral Health System Baltimore, Inc. (BHSB) is interested in identifying up to 8 certified behavioral health outpatient providers who are committed to implementing an Open Access scheduling structure. Eligible applicants must be certified by the Behavioral Health Administration as outpatient mental health centers, outpatient substance use disorder clinics, and/or certified outpatient medication assisted treatment providers. BHSB is committed to ensuring that Baltimore City residents have access to timely outpatient behavioral health care and the goal of this project is to support providers in changing business practices to improve access to timely clinical services. The Open Access model has been successfully implemented in other jurisdictions across the country. As a result, other jurisdictions have been able to eliminate waiting lists and ensure timely access to counselors as well as physicians and other prescribing staff. BHSB has identified MTM Services, a national consulting organization, as the entity to work with the selected providers in implementing Open Access. Information on MTM services can be found on their website at https://www.mtmservices.org. PARTICIPATION REQUIREMENTS The selected providers will be required to participate in meetings and phone consultations with MTM Services over a 9 to 12-month period. It is expected that most of the consultations will be web based and last for approximately 2 hours per session and occur around every 3 to 4 weeks. The first step will include a GAP Analysis Module (GAP), which will most likely occur over 2 separate 2-hour meetings similar to a clinical intake assessment. As part of the GAP, MTM services will talk with the staff who do the work most relevant to implementing Open Access. The selected agencies will be required to have at least 2 staff members participate who perform the following functions: Have contact with a client from their first call through intake, Perform screening, assessment, and/or treatment planning prior to the client s first treatment appointment. Based on the GAP, MTM will gain an understanding of the agency's existing access processes through the first appointment, create a detailed flow chart of the process, and identify the areas to be addressed to implement Open Access. Following the GAP, MTM will work with the selected agencies over the 9 to 12- month period on implementing the Open Access model. The areas of focus expected will include Collaborative Documentation/Documentation Re-Design, Prescriber 2
Scheduling, Centralized Scheduling, No Show/Engagement Management, Utilization Review/Utilization Management, Cost Finding, and/or Integrated Care Implementation. Other areas might be addressed based upon the unique needs of the agency. The expected time structure for this part of the consultation is the following: A 2-hour kick off meeting via GoToMeeting (a web-based meeting platform) to review the GAP data and discuss implementing the areas of focus; Up to 7 web-based meetings to operationalize the areas of focus identified, with emphasis on same-day scheduling processes; the meetings will be scheduled for up to 2 hours each (up to 14 hours total commitment if all are utilized) and occur every 3 to 4 weeks; Up to 10 hours of specialty consultation based upon the needs of the agency. ORIENTATION TO OPEN ACCESS CONCEPT Eligible providers were notified in late December of 2 separate 1-hour webinars provided by MTM services. The 2 identical webinars are scheduled for: Monday, January 8, 2018 from 3:00 to 4:00 pm o Web: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/263746893 OR o Phone: +1 (571) 317-3112 Access Code: 263-746-893 Tuesday, January 23, 2018 from 4:15 to 5:15 pm o Web: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/638865117 OR o Phone: +1 (646) 749-3122 Access Code: 638-865-117 All applicants should feel free to include as many of their staff as they would like on the webinars and attempt to attend one of them. We realize this document may be received after the first webinar has taken place. Please RSVP for the webinars by emailing Elizabeth Unger at Elizabeth.Unger@BHSBaltimore.org. COST TO THE PROVIDER BHSB is in the process of identifying the necessary funding for the technical assistance consulting for this project. While cautiously optimistic, funding has not yet been confirmed. There will be no cost to the provider to participate other than the staff time and commitment it takes to implement an Open Access model in their practice. 3
ELIGIBILITY To be eligible to submit a Letter of Interest in response to this request, the provider organization must be certified by the Behavioral Health Administration and/or the Office of Health Care Quality (OHCQ) as an outpatient mental health center, outpatient substance use disorder clinic, and/or certified outpatient medication assisted treatment provider. SPECIFICATIONS AND TIMEFRAMES Please limit responses to 3 to 5 pages. The letter should be on agency letterhead and clearly identify a primary contact person and their contact information. The format of the document is not specified, except that all answers should be numbered to correspond to the above questions. The authorized contact person for all matters concerning this RFLOI is: Keisha Tatum, Director of Contracting Operations Phone: 410-637-1900 x8530 Email: Keisha.Tatum@BHSBaltimore.org Letters of Interest are due at 4 pm EST on February 15, 2018. Letters of Interest should be submitted electronically by emailing Keisha Tatum at the email address listed above. LETTER CONTENT AND RATING CRITERIA Letters of Interest should describe your organization s interest in participating in the Open Access initiative as outlined above and respond to each question below. Please number your response to match the number of the question. The points noted after the question correspond to the weight given to that area and will be used to score and rank Letters of Interest. 1. Describe your organization s experience and qualifications as an applicant. Attach relevant OHCQ licenses/certifications and accreditation status/certificate. (15 points) 2. Describe your organization's interest in and commitment to implementing Open Access and what you hope to accomplish. Incorporate any information you gained from participating in the January webinars in your response. (35 points) 3. Describe your organization's lead on this project, their credentials, title, and their ability to make the necessary changes to your practice to implement Open Access. Identify how you will incorporate all necessary staff in the process including the intake staff as well as prescribers. (30 points) 4
4. Identify tools you have or plan to implement such as an electronic health record (EHR)/electronic medical record (EMR) that will be able to track improvements in timeliness of individuals access care and follow up activities. (20 points) REVIEW PROCESS Letters of Interest will first be screened for eligibility based on the eligibility criteria outlined in the Eligibility section of this document. All Letters will also be reviewed and scored by an internal review committee based on the rating criteria outlined in the How to Submit a Letter of Interest section of this document. BHSB may request interviews at the review stage of the procurement process to gather additional information or to seek clarification of answers. 5