Projects & Impact

AHP has built its business on applying best practices, many of which we have helped to shape, and real-world, hands-on knowledge to improving systems and business practices for our clients.

In all of the work that we do, we are guided by our mission to improve health and human services systems of care and business operations to help organizations and individuals reach their full potential.

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Access to Recovery (ATR)—Commonwealth of Massachusetts, DPH/BSAS

ATR is an innovative program that provides access to community services and resources to people with substance use disorders in Massachusetts. ATR has supported thousands of participants through their recovery in Boston, Worcester, New Bedford, Springfield/Holyoke, and Lowell.  
 
ATR provides participants with a menu of recovery support services to choose from including care coordination, access to basic needs, public transportation passes, health and mental health services, recovery coaching, rental assistance for sober housing, and employment training. When ATR participants have the opportunity to make their own decisions about their recovery, there is hope for sustaining that recovery.  
 
ATR focuses on providing wraparound support to participants, helping them toward self-sufficiency and employment. Along with providing a standardized comprehensive job readiness program, ATR provides tuition for select occupational training programs. 
 
Eighty percent of ATR participants have a history of involvement in the criminal justice system, so finding a job comes with significant barriers. ATR works with community partners to provide job training opportunities in fields that are receptive to hiring people with criminal backgrounds, such as culinary and food services, commercial cleaning, construction, carpentry, hospitality, truck driving, HVAC, introductory IT, personal fitness training, office support, and customer service. 
 
With all the support ATR provides, graduates are better equipped to continue their recovery path, find jobs, maintain stable housing, and make a sustainable change for a brighter future. 

 


Benchmarks for an Optimal Compensation Strategy

A state department of mental health has engaged AHP to deliver research and consulting services to improve business operations and impact systems of care through recruiting and retaining a high performance professional services workforce. AHP will provide guidelines for an optimal compensation and workforce development strategy to enable contracted provider agencies to effectively recruit and retain highly qualified behavioral health professionals to provide psychiatric services at inpatient and outpatient facilities statewide. Services include those provided to patients and clients by psychiatrists, other physicians, psychologists, and additional professional staff including “doctors on call” to ensure that a psychiatrist is onsite 24 hours per day, seven days per week, 365 days per year at every inpatient site.

AHP will deliver compensation guidelines to include salary ranges, benefit packages, brief job descriptions, and workload estimates for contracted staff. AHP will utilize proprietary salary, benchmarking, and workforce planning data spanning 100 health care organizations in 38 states to develop selected data to benchmark salaries, benefits, brief job descriptions, and patient workload for psychiatrists and psychologists in a number of peer states.

BHbusiness Plus

BHbusiness Plus was funded through SAMHSA. Utilizing a coached learning network model that lasted 3 to 6 months per network, AHP conducted more than 50 learning networks, each involving hundreds of participants, around the following topics:

  • Value-based Purchasing
  • Bundled Payments
  • Data-Driven Decision Making
  • New Business Planning
  • Costing Out Your Services
  • Setting up a Third-Party Billing System
  • Improving Your Third-Party Billing System
  • Third-Party Contract Negotiations
  • Eligibility and Enrollment
  • Strategic Business Decision Making
  • Planning for the Next Generation of HIT
  • Exploring Affiliations, Mergers, and Acquisitions

The goal was to help behavioral health providers identify and implement customized change projects that expanded their service capacity, harnessed new payer sources, and ultimately made them able to thrive in the changing health care environment. The program empowered participating organizations to actually make quantifiable changes, rather than just learn how to do so. It linked participants into specific learning networks that focused on a specific topic of interest and provided opportunities for networking and peer support.

Everyone within individual learning networks received hands-on expertise and guidance to initiate, continue, and complete business operations changes.

Currently, BHBusiness offers virtual technical assistance through self-paced online courses, coupled with a robust library of web resources on these same topics, at no cost to participants.

 



 
 

Building a Behavioral Health Network with Rural Providers

Facing evolving state and federal requirements for clinical integration, this group of rural behavioral health providers sought AHP’s help to assess their capabilities and begin to build a provider network to better serve their region. Recognizing the competitive risk of more dominant health systems, these smaller providers have banded together and are collaborating with AHP to strengthen their administrative capacity and efficiency and deliver care more effectively. AHP is conducting a readiness assessment of each provider’s capabilities for forming a provider network model with an analysis of strengths and weaknesses, along with recommendations for the most suitable network model to pursue. In addition, AHP is developing a business planning process with a blueprint for implementation for the chosen model. Each organization will receive a feasibility study and business plan for establishing a shared services organization.

Colorado Office of Behavioral Health Needs Assessment

The Colorado Office of Behavioral Health (OBH) selected a team led by Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) Mental Health Program to conduct a needs analysis and scan of existing and promising behavioral health models. AHP worked with the WICHE team, which included NASMHPD Research Institute (NRI), to complete 17 tasks. AHP assessed:
 
  • Olmstead v. L.C. legal decision considerations in the provision of state psychiatric beds;
  • integration of behavioral health and physical health care;
  • impact of marijuana legalization and prescription drug misuse on CO OBH service needs;
  • impact of state drug sentencing reform on CO OBH service needs; and
  • state approaches to support employment and housing for mental health consumers.
 
The work on tasks included a literature review, environmental scan, key informant interviews, focus groups, and analysis of existing state-level data. A report was prepared for each task and combined into a comprehensive report that included recommendations for Colorado’s OBH. 
 
Related resources and publication:
 

Developing a Managed Service Organization for an Intellectual/Developmental Disability Services Provider Association

Members of an intellectual/developmental disabilities (I/DD) providers association engaged AHP to help form a management service organization (MSO) in response to imminent changes in the regulatory and business environment driven by the Affordable Care Act. AHP conducted a readiness assessment and then developed an implementation plan and roadmap to guide the group of providers toward establishing the MSO to re-engineer care delivery systems and adopt integrated service solutions and new technology. The comprehensive roadmap outlined the functional processes to put in place and a set of recommendations and procedures to help launch the MSO for the providers.

Developing a Strategic Plan and Pro Forma to Help a Midwestern Provider Association Form a Behavioral Health Network

This provider association engaged AHP to help form a provider network from among its members. AHP developed a robust strategic business operational plan and pro forma by performing in-depth analyses of key business operations areas and developing an action plan. Building on that work, AHP then facilitated the implementation planning process for credentialing and billing. As a result, AHP delivered a comprehensive roadmap outlining the functional processes to institute and a set of recommendations and procedures to help launch the desired network.

Evaluation of the Moms Do Care Project, Expanding Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) for Pregnant Women with Opioid Use Disorder

AHP is the evaluator for a Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Bureau of Substance Abuse Services (BSAS) grant to expand medical and behavioral health service systems capacity to engage and retain pregnant and postpartum women in integrated medication assisted treatment (MAT) and health care, and addiction and recovery support services. Funded through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) targeted capacity expansion portfolio, The Moms Do Care Project is being implemented in two communities (one rural and one urban) and focuses on the specific needs of pregnant women with opioid use disorders. Its overarching objective is to provide recovering mothers with increased access to MAT and with individualized services that support sustained recovery, choices about continuing medication, and efforts to maintain custody or contact with their children.

Expected outcomes include increased access and engagement in MAT concurrent with pre-and post-natal care; reduced illicit drug use; and improved health, recovery, and functioning status at the individual level. Systems level outcomes include an increased number of waivered buprenorphine prescribers; increased workforce understanding of opioid dependency in women specific to the needs of pregnant women; reduced negative attitudes of this population among medical providers; and improved integration of primary care and behavioral health services. AHP will assess outcomes through client interviews at three points in time, administrative treatment data, surveys of medical providers, and onsite visits with a range of key informants.

Heartland Health Outreach Research Technical Assistance Project

AHP worked with Heartland Health Outreach (HHO), a community-based organization that provides medical, dental, behavioral health care and housing to vulnerable populations, to identify organizational research strengths and program evaluation needs. AHP conducted key stakeholder interviews with HHO administrators, reviewed HHO research implementation strategies, and recommended health care reform-related performance measurements. AHP also worked with HHO leadership to disseminate its research-related projects at a national level.
 
Related resources and publications:
 
  • Pickett, S.A. & Batia, K. (2015). Integrated Health Care for People with Psychiatric Disabilities: Introduction to the special issue. American Journal of Psychiatric Rehabilitation, 18(1), 1-4. Retrieved from www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15487768.2015.1001689.
  • Pickett, S.A., Luther, S., Stellon, E., & Batia, K. (2015). Making Integrated Care a Reality: Lessons Learned From Heartland Health Outreach's Integration Implementation. American Journal of Psychiatric Rehabilitation, 18(1), 87-104. Retrieved from www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15487768.2015.1001698

HIV Capacity Building Initiative: Project Aspire

AHP serves as the evaluator for a Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) HIV Capacity Building Initiative (HIV CBI), Project Aspire. The goal of the grant is to prevent and reduce the onset of substance misuse and transmission of HIV/AIDS among at-risk racial/ethnic minority youth and young adults.

Equinox, a multiservice nonprofit organization, will provide evidence-based substance use disorder (SUD) and HIV/Viral Hepatitis (VH) prevention programming, onsite HIV/VH testing, and substance misuse assessment and counseling services to at-risk minority youth in Albany, NY, through its Youth Outreach Center. Peer Youth Leaders will promote engagement and co-facilitate prevention activities including the Say It Straight intervention. AHP will conduct a community needs assessment and assess program performance by documenting and measuring client outcomes and conducting a process evaluation. The needs assessment will include a review of epidemiological data, including prevalence rates, service gaps and disparities, community readiness to change, and capacity to provide SUD, HIV, and VH prevention and treatment services.

Improving Technological and Business Efficiencies for Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs)

Since 2005, AHP has helped nearly all Massachusetts FQHCs and others in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic to re-engineer key operational and clinical processes. AHP delivers value to the bottom line through evaluating and improving process mapping and workflow analysis, EHR implementation, identification of barriers and constraints, clinical and operational staff training, and system validation. AHP experts help FQHCs to integrate primary care and behavioral health, conduct strategic planning to meet the requirements of health care reform, and perform protected health information privacy and security assessments. Since 2011, AHP has assisted FQHCs in meeting the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Meaningful Use.

Increasing Community Participation Among Adults with Psychiatric Disabilities through Intentional Peer Support (IPS Study)

For the National Institute for Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (HHS), under Grant 90IF0098-01-00, AHP will conduct a study examining the comparative effectiveness of Intentional Peer Support (IPS) in improving community living and participation for adults with psychiatric disabilities. IPS is a peer-developed, theoretically based, manualized approach that is unique in conceptualizing peer support as a relationship-based learning process in the context of personal growth and community-building. The study will compare the outcomes of IPS with those of standard peer support services on dimensions including self-esteem, self-discrimination, social connectedness, community participation, and quality of life.

Increasing Financial Stability and Productivity for an Intellectual/Developmental Disability Service Provider

AHP helped to assess and improve key business operations for The Resource Center, a provider of intellectual/developmental disability, primary care, dental, and mental health services in New York State that was facing financial challenges under health care reform. Over a two-year period, AHP conducted a claims analysis and a productivity study, as follows:

  • The analysis identified the causes of financial losses, gaps in the revenue management process, and opportunities for improved pricing strategies and contract negotiation processes.
  • The productivity study analyzed the clinical workflow and its impact on revenue models, revealing both the need to improve productivity and to increase patients to the practice. AHP’s recommendations from all phases of work were quickly implemented by the client. Today operations are more efficient, productive, and profitable.

Integrated Health Care for African Americans with Mental Illness who are Homeless

AHP is collaborating with the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) to develop, implement and pilot-test an integrated behavioral health and primary care intervention for homeless African Americans with mental illness. Funded by the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities, in this project, peer navigators—African Americans with lived experience of homelessness and behavioral health problems—connect homeless African Americans with mental illness to medical and mental health care, helping them “navigate” these complicated health systems. AHP and IIT are conducting a randomized controlled clinical trial examining the effectiveness of peer navigators in improving health outcomes for this vulnerable population.
 
Related resources and publications:
 
  • Corrigan, P.W., Pickett, S., Kraus, D., Burks, R., & Schmidt, A. (2015). Community-based participatory research examining the health care needs of African Americans who are homeless with mental illness. Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, 26(1), 119-133. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25702732.
  • Corrigan, P.W., Pickett, S.A., Batia, K., & Michaels, P.J. (2014). Peer navigators and integrated care to address ethnic health disparities. Social Work in Public Health, 29, 581-593. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25144699

Jail Diversion and Trauma Recovery Cross-Site Evaluation

For this project funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), AHP designed and implemented a six-year process and outcome evaluation of 13 grantees, mounting innovative, multilevel state and pilot programs that provided trauma-informed services and supports to veterans involved in the criminal justice system. The goal of the evaluation was to document the implementation of state and local pilot activities by grantees and understand the impact of the pilot program services on client outcomes, in particular behavioral health and recidivism. The key sources of data for the process evaluation include the bi-annual collection of standardized semi-structured reports and two face-to-face site visits. The key sources of data for the client outcomes evaluation include longitudinal in-person interviews and data collected through secondary sources on arrests and services at all 13 sites.

Related resources and publications:
 

  • Stainbrook, K., Hartwell, S., & James, A. (2015). Female Veterans in Jail Diversion Programs: Differences From and Similarities to Their Male Peers. Psychiatric Services. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.201400442.
  • Stainbrook, K., Penney, D., & Elwyn, L. (2015). The Opportunities and Challenges of Multi-Site Evaluations: Lessons from the Jail Diversion and Trauma Recovery National Cross-Site Evaluation. Evaluation and Program Planning, 50, 26-35. Retrieved from www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0149718915000075.

National Center for Trauma-Informed Care and Alternatives to Restraint and Seclusion (NCTIC)

AHP was a subcontractor to SAMHSA’s National Center for Trauma-Informed Care and Alternatives to Restraint and Seclusion (NCTIC) for 8 years. A diverse team of staff and consultants, many of them trauma survivors and nationally recognized leaders, provided technical assistance (TA) and participated in developing products and materials under this contract. The National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors (NASMHPD) was the prime contractor for NCTIC.

NCTIC supported SAMHSA’s commitment to provide information, technical assistance, and support to increase awareness about the impact of trauma on people with mental health or substance use disorders, as well as people served by public health, education, and corrections systems.

A key focus of the work was to promote alternatives to seclusion, restraint, and other coercive interventions to minimize the likelihood of re-traumatization. The use of trauma-informed approaches was incorporated into a broad range of service systems, with input from trauma survivors’ perspectives in all aspects of the contract.

NCTIC was guided by the fundamental beliefs that people with personal experiences of trauma can and do recover and heal; trauma-informed care is the hallmark of effective programs to promote recovery and healing through support from peers, consumers, survivors, ex-patients, and recovering persons and mentoring by providers; and leadership teams of peers and providers charting the course for the implementation of trauma-informed care are essential.


As one of the earliest national organizations to recognize the importance of trauma, NCTIC is proud of its contributions to establishing trauma-informed care as a powerful social movement involving agencies, communities, and states across the country. Its work with federal partners and trauma survivors fueled a deeper understanding of how best to meet the needs of individuals who have experienced trauma.

Work included:

  • A blog series titled From Trauma-Aware to Trauma-Informed: Implementing SAMHSA’s Six Principles
  • Three virtual learning networks
  • Three webinar series
  • Training curricula on trauma-informed care for all service settings, and trauma-informed services for people living with HIV (PLHIV)
  • Trauma-informed peer support service briefs, fact sheets, guides, issue briefs, etc.
Select products developed included:

  • Reducing Seclusion and Restraint by Creating Trauma-Informed Service Systems: An Issue Brief for Policymakers on Trauma-Informed Practices
  • Best Practices in the Use of Restraints with Pregnant Women Under Correctional Custody
  • Essential Components of Trauma-Informed Judicial Practice
  • Promoting Prevention through Trauma-Informed Practices: Seclusion and Restraint Efforts since 1998
  • Engaging Women in Trauma-Informed Peer Support: A Guidebook
  • Minority AIDS Initiative special products such as:
  1. Trauma-Informed Approaches to HIV Testing
  2. Trauma-Informed Approaches to Care Transitions
  3. Trauma-Informed Approaches to Supporting Older Adults LHIV
  4. Trauma-Informed Approaches at the Intersection of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) and PLHIV
  5. Trauma-Informed Approaches for Working with Transgender or Gender Non-Conforming (TGNC) PLHIV
  6. Trauma-Informed Approaches to Substance Use and PLHIV

 


National Drugged Driving Reporting System (DDRS): Using Date to Develop a Public Health Approach to Prevent Drugged Driving

AHP, in collaboration with Carnevale Associates, received Small Business Innovation Research contracts from NIDA to develop and support the DDRS. The project was initiated because current enforcement approaches—originally developed to reduce drunk driving—are not adequate for dealing with the problem of drugged driving. In addition, there is not enough data collected about drugged driving at the local, state, or national level to fully inform policy and programs. 
 
The DDRS team worked with an expert panel of nationally recognized researchers to agree on a National Minimum Data Set (NMDS) on Drugged Driving to meet the federal government’s need for data, understand the magnitude of the problem of drugged driving, and identify possible prevention strategies to benefit public health. Based on this work, AHP designed the Drugged Driving Survey, an anonymous online survey designed to collect data elements outlined in the NMDS.
 
Using the survey, AHP partners with states for data collection activities. Each state recruits participants through its department of motor vehicles. AHP assists states and localities with data collection and publicizing the online survey and provides technical assistance and support to develop a sampling approach and recruitment strategy. Moving forward, states can use this data to help define the scope of the problem and provide critical information that will allow them to target resources for prevention and enforcement. 

National Veterans Technical Assistance Center (NVTAC)

The National Veterans Technical Assistance Center (NVTAC) was a partnership among AHP, the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Veterans Employment and Training Services. Led by AHP and funded under a cooperative agreement for four years, the NVTAC supported the mission of the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program (HVRP) and its stakeholders. We assembled a cadre of experts knowledgeable about veteran homelessness, workforce development, and adult learning that included veterans committed to helping their service member colleagues.

We tapped the experience of practitioners in the field by facilitating peer-to-peer learning in our national virtual learning community; spotlighting individual grantees and their staff to inform the field and through regional face-to-face events. AHP worked with grantees and convened experts to establish 10 best-practice elements showcased on the NVTAC website and supported implementation through webinars and training.
 
Our work was responsive to our client’s needs. When Hurricane Harvey hit the Gulf Coast, we reached out to grantees with resources and established a go-to website for community recovery. When direct service staff needed to build their skills, but grantee organizations could not afford to send staff to training sites, we developed online, instructor-led courses. As more communities wanted to host veteran stand-down events and DOL sought to support these, AHP prepared materials and a website to ease the challenge of organizing an event.
 
We measured learning impacts. Following training, we not only asked if participants were satisfied, we also asked about what they learned and if their participation led to changes in their behavior, practice, or policy.
 
Through NVTAC, AHP quickly became the go-to source for a broad range of technical assistance, training, and policy advice on veterans’ homelessness programs and issues to existing and potential audiences. This has been done through:

  • developing, conducting, and documenting extensive outreach efforts to national, state, and local employers to increase their awareness of HVRP, HFVVWF, IVTP, and SD in order to increase employment and training opportunities for veterans experiencing or at risk of homelessness;
  • identifying, extracting, documenting, and sharing best practices or other case-study-oriented overviews, as defined and directed by VETS;
  • assisting VETS leadership by suggesting and conducting research and program improvement-based studies, as ultimately defined and directed by VETS; and 
  • providing consulting to an external national evaluation of the HVRP.
Among the major accomplishments in this project, AHP developed remote service-informed technical assistance and research-driven virtual training to grantees in settings ranging from urban to rural across the nation, serving women veterans, incarcerated veterans, veterans in families, Native American veterans, and single male veterans. Training topics included improving employment outcomes to justice-involved veterans, approaches to job-driven training, and meeting the needs of veterans with behavioral health and other challenges. In addition, NVTAC has provided onsite grantee-specific assistance to improve program operations, integrate use of best practices, and achieve desired outcomes in the Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, and San Francisco regions. NVTAC developed a number of electronic and print materials, including brief video interviews with experienced grantees, briefing papers, research results, website updates, and a self-paced elearning course on job retention for veterans.
 
Related resources and publications:

Positioning a Provider of HIV/AIDS Services in the Managed Care Market

AHP developed a strategic plan for this nonprofit provider of services for individuals with HIV/AIDS, focused on new products and services arising from health care reform opportunities, specifically guiding the organization in expanding its services to managed care organizations (MCOs). Once in place, the plan laid a foundation for AHP to help the client develop proposals to solicit contracts for specialized managed care services to the HIV/AIDS and other vulnerable populations. These proposals were submitted to major managed care insurers with plans targeting the Medicaid long term care services markets.

Positioning an Accountable Care Organization to Expand Behavioral Health Services

Inspira Health Network, an accountable care organization (ACO) with three medical centers and more than 100 access points, sought AHP’s help to make rapid, well-informed decisions about the best allocation of its behavioral health resources and facilities to best serve the surrounding community and deliver value to the bottom line. The goal was to research and deliver a position paper for presentation to legislative, business, and community stakeholders that would encourage support for the ACO’s proposed facility and product expansion. In a very tight timeframe, AHP conducted an assessment of the existing and future business environment, researched and defined the product line and proposed expansion, and developed a paper positioning Inspira Health Network and the benefits proposed for the community.

Recovery to Practice

From 2014 to 2018, under a contract with SAMHSA, AHP led the Recovery to Practice (RTP) workforce initiative to expand and integrate recovery-oriented care delivered by behavioral health providers across systems and service settings. The purpose of the RTP project was to help SAMHSA promote and support person-centered, recovery-oriented principles and practices as integral to multidisciplinary treatment and services for people diagnosed with serious mental illnesses and/or substance use disorders.  

 

Primarily a workforce development project, RTP helped improve and supplement the skills and competence of practitioners across disciplines—including physicians and other medical personnel, therapists and social workers, and peer specialists and those who provide support services. Through RTP, SAMHSA built a comprehensive suite of online educational resources for understanding, providing, and improving recovery-oriented services. 

 

RTP addressed applications and recovery-oriented practices within multidisciplinary services and integrated settings. As part of the contract, the RTP team

 
  • Redeveloped and expanded SAMHSA’s RTP website
  • Created quarterly newsletters and other resources
  • Provided technical assistance and educational events to help promote and support recovery-oriented approaches in integrated and multidisciplinary settings
  • Created new training modules on interdisciplinary service approaches and homelessness
  • Developed decision support resources for clinicians 

AHP hosted a series of 48 multifaceted, multidisciplinary, far-reaching education programs consisting of continuing education unit (CEU)–approved webinars and a resource-rich companion newsletter on a variety of recovery-oriented topics, including homelessness and housing instability, engagement, recovery-oriented approaches to medication, and recovery-oriented cognitive therapy (CT-R). Participants gave these webinars an overall effectiveness rating of 98 percent. 

 

In addition to webinars, AHP created two SAMHSA-approved multi-module virtual learning courses: Integrated Practice in Primary and Behavioral Health, and Information for Peer Specialists Working with People Experiencing Homelessness.  

 

AHP also completed a robust set of CEU-carrying clinical decision support materials for physicians and other practitioners. The virtual courses blended evidence-based medicine with a recovery orientation and focused on recovery-oriented prescribing practices, co-occurring disorders, and clozapine. Mindful of the needs of this professional audience, AHP developed six podcasts that focused on complex clinical considerations around psychotropic medication, including recovery-oriented approaches to prescribing, choosing the right medication at the right time, prescribing multiple medications, treating pregnant women, the intersection of serious mental illness and chronic pain, and prescribing long-acting injectable medications. 


Redesigning Systems for the Substance Use Disorder Field in the Era of Health Care Reform

In 2011, AHP foresaw the coming impact of both the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) and the Affordable Care Act (ACA) on the substance use disorder (SUD) field. Working with the State Associations of Addictions Services (SAAS), the largest national association of SUD treatment and service providers at the time, AHP developed an approach to assess and redesign the nation’s SUD delivery system. Together SAAS and AHP deployed the Readiness and Capabilities Assessment (RCA), a jointly developed survey tool to measure provider ability to meet the expected demands of the new legislation.

Related resources and publications:

Redesigning the Substance Use Disorder Treatment Continuum of Care in Los Angeles County

AHP is working with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health Substance Abuse Prevention and Control (SAPC) to support the county in developing a state-required plan to opt into the Drug Medi-Cal Organized Delivery System (DMC-ODS) Waiver for adult and adolescent populations. The waiver expands treatment and recovery services and creates a continuum of care for individuals diagnosed with a substance use disorder (SUD).

In partnership with the SAPC leadership and other key stakeholders, AHP is developing the financing formula and the organizational and staffing infrastructure that will support the DMC-ODS. To fully develop the architecture and financing recommendations, AHP is analyzing similar systems, studying rate setting methodologies, providing comprehensive data analysis, evaluating financial formulas, cross-walking ASAM levels of care with standardized code sets, and gathering information on managed care financial operations. AHP will also provide recommendations for a cost-effective training plan to develop the staffing capabilities and readiness for implementation of the new system.

Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) Aftercare Study

AHP has been awarded a grant by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) to conduct a study of the treatment and aftercare services provided under the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) Program. The goal of the RSAT Study is to provide NIJ with programmatic knowledge about BJA RSAT-funded treatment and aftercare services. Using a mixed methods design, the study will focus on describing the range and types of substance use treatment, re-entry/release planning activities, and related aftercare services that are provided to offenders through the BJA RSAT program. In particular, the evaluation seeks to identify the application and penetration of evidence-based principles and practices in facilities (jail, prison, juvenile detention) and post-facility with RSAT funds.  

Rosecrance Patient Outcomes Project

Rosecrance Health Networks, a private, not-for-profit behavioral health organization, contracted AHP to analyze its residential treatment data in order to help Rosecrance highlight how its services help adolescents and adults struggling with substance use disorders recover and reclaim their lives. Working with Rosecrance leadership, AHP identified the most compelling information on patient recovery and program success, and made recommendations on how Rosecrance might use those results in marketing its services. As part of this process, AHP examined how Rosecrance meets national and state quality indicators of effective substance use treatment.

SAMHSA’s Homeless and Housing Resource Network

SAMHSA contracted with AHP to provide training and technical assistance (TA) on housing and homelessness to SAMHSA Homeless Program Branch (HPB) grantees and other homelessness housing and service providers operating across the United States and U.S. territories. Housing and service programs are united by a vision of ending homelessness by supporting individuals through a process of change as they improve their health and wellness, live a self-directed life, and strive to reach their full potential. 

The goals of this project include the following: 
 

  • Promoting the adoption of best practices for serving people who are experiencing homelessness or are at risk of becoming homeless and have chronic mental illness or co-occurring disorders; 

  • Increasing workforce capacity through TA and training;
  • Disseminating information to the homelessness services field in support of SAMHSA’s strategic initiatives;
  • Collaborating with other agencies and organizations to improve the coordination of SAMHSA activities focused on addressing homelessness and building effective partnerships; and
  • Measuring meaningful change.

The HHRN TA team is led by AHP and includes partners HomeBase, Policy Research Associates (PRA), JBS International, the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors (NASMHPD), and Abt Associates.  

Through AHP's team, HHRN provides assistance to the public and to HPB grantees, which includes PATH, Cooperative Agreements to Benefit Homeless Individuals (CABHI), and Grants for the Benefit of Homeless Individuals (GBHI) grantees that touch people in every state and territory. HHRN serves as the TA and training resource for SAMHSA. 


Examples of work included updating, enhancing, and field testing two evidence-based practices KITs focused on people experiencing homelessness—the Permanent Supportive Housing Evidence-Based Practices KIT and the Integrated Treatment for Co-occurring Disorders Evidence-Based Practices KIT. In addition, HHRN has conducted multifaceted, interagency policy academies on chronic homelessness in collaboration with other federal agencies, such as a policy academy on youth homelessness and a policy academy on outreach and engagement to people experiencing unsheltered homelessness.  
 

Related resources and publications: 

Supporting the Illinois Alcoholism and Drug Dependence Association in its Advocacy for Substance Use Disorder and Mental Health Services

AHP has supported long-time client and partner, the Illinois Alcoholism and Drug Dependence Association (IADDA), on several key policy, marketing, and system design initiatives. In 2012, AHP reviewed and analyzed state insurance laws and regulations, and made recommendations concerning substance use disorder (SUD) policy and coverage. Subsequently, in light of Illinois’ decision to expand Medicaid in a coordinated care organization context in 2013–2014, AHP conducted an environmental scan to identify gaps in the statewide system of care that, if filled adequately, would result in an “ideal system design.” In 2014, AHP provided a review and set of recommendations for cost rates of behavioral health services in Illinois. The resulting document showed current rates were under national norms, and the data was used by IADDA in lobbying efforts to adjust provider rates in the state.

Supporting Transition to Health Care Reform for a Large National Behavioral Health/Social Services Organization

AHP worked with this national association and its affiliate members around the country on a range of projects including re-engineering services and delivery systems in response to the requirements and opportunities under the Affordable Care Act. AHP has worked extensively with the national headquarters of the association to identify opportunities for affiliates, including identifying partnerships with health homes and accountable care organizations, exploring new business opportunities, and expanding publicly funded services into the private pay and third party/managed care markets.

Technical Assistance and Training on Women and Families Impacted by Substance Use and Mental Health Disorders (also known as: Women, Children, and Families)

The WCF project supported SAMHSA’s advancement of state-of-the-art knowledge around substance use and mental health needs of women and families through supporting leaders, workforce development efforts, product development, and expert consultation. The project utilized a multipronged approach to increase the field’s capability for meeting the needs of women, adolescent girls, and families across the nation, which included working with policy makers, providers, and leaders committed to improving women’s services throughout the nation.

AHP also provided expert consultation on gender-responsive prevention, intervention, treatment, and recovery support services for adolescent girls, pregnant women, and families with children.

AHP provided training and technical assistance through the WCF project from 2008 to 2018. AHP provided subject matter expertise and consultation to SAMHSA, NASADAD, states and community groups on effective interventions, treatment and recovery support for women and families. 

 
Key project components included: 

  • National conferences
  • Webinars, trainings, and online courses
  • Research; internal and external reports
  • Expert panels
  • Support for the National Association of State Alcohol/Drug Abuse Directors (NASADAD)/Women’s Services Network 

Technical Assistance to the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) Office of the Director

Over several contracts, AHP has conducted studies, provided analysis and technical advice, written papers and Reports to Congress, and reviewed CMHS business operations. In addition, AHP writers are the principal speech and blog writers for the CMHS Office of the Director. Speeches and blogs communicate SAMHSA’s vision, mission, and priorities as they relate to the development of a person-centered, recovery-focused, evidence-based, and quality-driven system of behavioral health care. Speeches are prepared for national meetings and conventions, state and community organizations, national and international policymaking groups, and congressional committees.

AHP’s accomplishments in support of the CMHS Office of the Director are both broad and deep. For example, AHP:

 
  • Wrote Reports to Congress on borderline personality disorder and certified community behavioral health clinics;
  • Provided insight into the evolving research and policy surrounding the social determinants of mental health;
  • Helped assess the evidence base for the effectiveness of selected behavioral health treatments;
  • Examined states’ priorities vis-a-vis health reform;
  • Reviewed crisis support programs for people with behavioral health conditions;
  • Examined employment of individuals with behavioral health disorders who have criminal justice involvement;
  • Conducted an examination of patient activation for behavioral health;
  • Developed CMHS program profiles;
  • Helped develop materials related to the prevention of mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders;
  • Examined the relationship of maternal health and child behavioral health outcomes; and
  • Analyzed the extent to which the landmark Supreme Court decision in Olmstead v. L.C. is working for Americans with disabilities, including those with mental and substance use disorders.
     
Related resources and publications:
 

The Behavioral Health and HIV/AIDS Technical Assistance Center (BH-HIVTAC)

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) contracted with AHP to manage this national technical assistance (TA) and training center, which provided services to CSAP and CSAT grantees funded through the Minority AIDS Initiative (MAI).
 
Through onsite and innovative virtual TA, BH-HIVTAC provided high-quality services, fostered an understanding of the people the program served, and supported development of integrated services that were culturally and linguistically appropriate for these priority populations and their communities. The goal of this TA and training was to increase capacity for local behavioral health provider networks to develop and expand their substance use prevention and treatment services, particularly those integrating HIV and viral hepatitis prevention services and linkages to primary health care.
 
BH-HIVTAC reached more than 1,500 participants through its virtual conferences for grantees. The highly interactive sessions focused on topics ranging from using social media to recruiting youth and young adults at risk of HIV into substance use prevention and treatment services and integrating peer recovery services into workforce development in behavioral health programs.
 
In addition, BH-HIVTAC held collaborative webinars and intensive onsite training and TA. It hosted small virtual learning networks designed to strengthen and support grantee effectiveness and facilitated development of regional grantee networks to promote grantee-to-grantee connections to build local grantee capacity.
 

The Intersection of Violence Against Women and HIV/AIDS: A Cross-Training Guide for Service Providers Office of Women’s Health

AHP received a grant from the Office of Women’s Health (OWH) to research, revise, and then implement a pilot cross-training program for community domestic violence and HIV/AIDS agencies in four cities across the United States to enhance their services to vulnerable, abused women who were either infected or at risk for HIV/AIDS. By educating each agency on the subject matter of the other agency and encouraging collaboration between them, AHP’s goal was to ensure that no matter how the woman entered the system for services, whether through the domestic violence or HIV/AIDS door, both issues would be addressed. After recruiting the requisite service agencies in cities in four states, revising the five-part curriculum and developing presentations, AHP conducted web-based and onsite trainings, including joint sessions with both agencies. The project included a final report that will empower OWH to roll out a national training program.

Transitioning to a Medicaid Managed Care Model for Providers of Services to Individuals with Disabilities

AHP is supporting this provider association in its goal of establishing a long-term Medicaid managed care model for its member organizations that deliver services to individuals with physical disabilities. The managed care model will ensure care coordination between patient primary and mental health services, as well as facilitate their ability to live and work in integrated settings. In addition, the work explores network provider models to create a shared organizational infrastructure that will produce administrative and information technology efficiencies for the new managed care model. AHP is currently conducting readiness assessments and providing recommendations for best practices and models that best fit the organizations while meeting state regulatory requirements.

Uniform Data Systems for Health Centers

AHP, in partnership with John Snow, Inc. (JSI), supports the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA) Bureau of Primary Health Care (BPHC) in the continual development and improvement of processes, documentation, and technical assistance supporting the annual collection of BPHC and BHPr (Bureau of Health Professionals) Uniform Data System (UDS) program performance data from grantees.

The UDS is a core set of information used for reviewing the operation and performance of the approximately 1,300 health centers (Section 330 Federally-qualified Health Centers [FQHCs]), FQHC Look-Alikes (LALs) and Bureau of Health Workforce (BHW) Primary Care Clinics) nationwide, which tracks information about patient demographics, services provided, staffing, clinical indicators, utilization rates, and financial measures.

Project goals include ensuring the reliability and validity of UDS data by providing training, technical support and UDS reviewer expertise; collaborating with HRSA Electronic Handbook (EHB) system developers to enhance reporting tools and develop various standardized reports; and conducting analyses and developing reports useful to health centers (for program management and performance improvement), project officers (for monitoring and technical assistance), and to HRSA for analyzing the individual and collective impact of health centers in providing primary health care services to the nation’s underserved populations.

Related resources and publications:

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