Improving the quality and cost-effectiveness of publicly financed health care
Care Management Entities for Children with Serious Behavioral Health Needs: A CHIPRA Quality Improvement Collaborative
CHCS is the coordinating entity for a five-year, three-state project funded by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 (CHIPRA) Quality Demonstration grant program. The grant, which is funding lead state Maryland, Georgia and Wyoming, supports a Care Management Entity (CME) approach to improving quality and reducing costs for high-utilizing Medicaid- and CHIP-enrolled children with serious behavioral health challenges.
CHCS will develop and lead the project's Quality Learning Collaborative, through which the states will test, implement and/or expand their use of the CME model. CMEs incorporate health information technology, high-quality wraparound, intensive care coordination, family and youth peer specialists, and financing strategies that coordinate Medicaid and other funding streams. The state demonstration projects will be part of the national evaluation to assess the impact of the programs on the quality of health care for children.