CMSA Today - Issue 4, 2015 - (Page 21)

Collaboration and Care Coordination The Importance of Collaboration Realizing the ACA's Full Potential with Community Partnerships and Interdisciplinary Care Teams BY ROBYN GOLDEN, LCSW T he health care system faces complex challenges, chief among them supporting a population with increasing rates of chronic conditions. Growing fiscal and regulatory constraints, along with a surge in the development of medical technology, have driven the health care system even further toward one that is based on discrete episodes of illness and curing diseases. However, this medical model largely ignores the big picture of individuals' lives and the social factors that impact their health and wellbeing. An alternative system - one that takes into account a person's self-identified goals, co-occurring medical conditions, and social supports - is possible. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act's funding for initiatives such as Accountable Care Organizations, Medicaid Health Homes, and Aging and Disability Resource Networks, many states and organizations are shifting toward such models. Case management and care coordination are essential parts of these initiatives. The National Coalition on Care Coordination (N3C), a collaborative led by Rush university Medical Center and Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College, advocates for policies and programs that effectively link health and long-term care, and believes that care coordination should: * Be patient-centered; * Be supportive of family and informal caregivers; * Be accessible; * Take an interdisciplinary approach; * Focus on chronic care and health care transitions; * Bridge health and social services; * Employ a comprehensive assessment; and * Implement and monitor a flexible care plan. An imperative aspect of care coordination is that it has a focus on mental health and behavioral health. Behavioral health considerably impacts one's capacity to follow recommended care plans, and care coordination efforts that aid an individual to find a range of appropriate behavioral health support services have Issue 4 * 2015 CMSA TODAY 21

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of CMSA Today - Issue 4, 2015

PRESIDENT’S LETTER
ASSOCIATION NEWS
CMSA CONFERENCE PARTNERS
CMSA CORPORATE PARTNERS
Integrating Behavioral Health Services into Mainstream Medicine
Cleveland Clinic Integrated Care Model
The Importance of Collaboration
Adult and Pediatric Integrated Case Management
Corporate Collaboration
INDEX OF ADVERTISERS

CMSA Today - Issue 4, 2015