NJAMHAA NEWS
Your Voice in Behavioral Health since 1951
Inside this Issue
Highlighting Innovation and Partnerships
Legal Action Center Builds Partnerships to Protect Rights and Increase Access to Services
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IXP Corp. Joins NJAMHAA to Build New Partnerships and Expedite Access to Care
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Three New Members Add to NJAMHAA’s Collective Continuum of Service Providers
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SERV and Maryville Reach Milestone Anniversaries, Offer Expansive Arrays of Innovative Services
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Summit Oaks Hospital Provides Innovative, Comprehensive Care and Vital Education
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DMHAS Offers IT and COVIDrelated Reimbursement for Providers under Different Programs
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GoMo Health® Program Helps Employers Support Staff and Increase Retention
March 2024
Two ongoing challenges affecting the behavioral healthcare field are retaining staff and the continually increasing need for services. In addition, clinicians may tend to focus more on helping their clients than themselves, although they may have their own substance use and mental health issues. To address these overlapping situations, GoMo Health®, a NJAMHAA Approved Vendor, developed the Recovery Pathways: Workplace ™ (RPW) Certificate Program. RPW is a proven effective, artificial intelligence-enabled support pathway for addressing substance use disorders (SUD) and mental health issues for people in treatment and those who are in recovery.
“In the workplace today, psychological safety is becoming more and more important. If you don’t have employees feeling safe and secure in their roles, the companies’ overall culture can become toxic and in turn, the company costs can escalate very quickly because of lack of trust,” said David Drap, GoMo Health’s Chief Growth Officer. As explained on GoMo’s website, ensuring psychological safety includes fostering open conversations free from judgment and providing employees with resources, such as education on coping, resiliency and mindfulness; depression, anxiety, and SUD risk screenings; and extra support during risky times.
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IXP Corp. Joins NJAMHAA to Build New Partnerships and Expedite Access to Care
Before the 988 crisis response system was created, IXP Corporation, which staffs, manages and operates emergency 911 call centers for local governments, recognized that as much as 15% of calls to 911 involve behavioral health matters. Nearly two years ago, IXP and Catholic Charities, Diocese of Trenton (CCT) launched a proactive effort to address this situation with a pilot behavioral health program.
“With these calls in mind, IXP envisioned a separate communications center that behaved similarly to 911, but was dedicated specifically to handling behavioral health calls — a behavioral health hub that could receive calls transferred from 911, accept referrals from medical centers, other mental health service providers and process calls originating from public safety responders in the regular performance of their duties,” said Michael Underwood, Director, Integrated Marketing and Communications. “As several alternative approaches to handling behavioral health calls emerged, IXP was fortunate to work with CCT to bring our joint vision to reality. In early June 2022, in collaboration with CCT, we designed, built, equipped, and staffed an independent Behavioral Health Hub (BHH) for the unique purpose of handling behavioral health calls and connecting callers with community-based care within 12 to 24 hours.”
“Before 988 was rolling out, we knew this would be valuable for CCT’s Early Intervention Support Services (EISS) program,” added Harry Marshall, Senior Managing Director, Managed Services.
“IXP is an extension of our access center,” said Susan Loughery, MBA, former Associate Executive Director of CCT and former NJAMHAA Board member. “We evolved from a call-in center to an access hub, as the system changed dramatically in recent years with the need for immediate access, wraparound services, and social determinants of health (SDOH) services.” She added that all individuals, whether or not they are in crisis, are screened for SDOH needs.
“While many communities were exploring alternative solutions for mental health needs, we were fortunate to collaborate with CCT, who shared our vision, resulting in an accelerated implementation plan,” Marshall added.
“We are very pleased, and so is CCT with the number of people we’ve been able to get into care,” said Larry Consalvos, President and COO. Within the first 20 months of their partnership, CCT and IXP connected nearly 800 individuals in Burlington and Mercer Counties to Catholic Charities community-based behavioral health care. Marshall added that more than 1,000 individuals have called, and some were referred to providers in other counties where they live.
“As consumers find immediate treatment through participation in their community outpatient programs, we expect calls to traditional outlets like 911 will decline, thus reducing direct police involvement and decreasing ambulance transports to hospital emergency departments,” Underwood stated.
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“We received positive feedback from law enforcement. They don’t always know where to bring people, and it’s not their job to assess risk and determine the level of care needed. The BHH does this,” Loughery said. She added that to build awareness of the BHH, CCT distributes business cards with a QR code in the community.
How IXP and CCT Work Together
“Access centers do insurance staging, verifications, and more of the pre-intake functions. There’s more to this process with the different structure that we work in,” Loughery explained. “We needed a way to have a crisis team available to triage and navigate to the right level of care for mental illness, substance use, and co-occurring disorders treatment. We developed a solution by having an access center and hub with an immediate connection through IXP.”
“The BHH is a one-stop call center that can triage each caller’s circumstances and needs and coordinate the shortest path to appropriate community-based care that doesn’t necessarily require a traditional 911 police response,” Underwood said. He added that transportation is also provided when needed.
“The BHH functions as the front end for behavioral health providers, performing the initial triage, scheduling, and patient demographic input directly into the provider’s electronic health record system,” as Underwood described. “This process accelerates the in-person pre-intake process by having the consumer data pre-entered, allowing each patient to meet directly with a case manager and clinician. This also reduces the administrative burden on clinical
staff, allowing them to concentrate on patient interactions and treatment.”
“If the consumers’ needs are outside the scope of outpatient mental health treatment, our navigators coordinate appropriate referrals within the Catholic Charities system of care or other programs based on each client’s needs and location,” Underwood explained.
Individuals can contact the BHH seven days a week between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. by calling or texting 609-729-5468 or emailing ixpbhh@ixpcorp.com. During hours when the BHH is not staffed, calls are answered by on-call personnel.
“We’re also working with IXP on the Quality Improvement Program (QIP). We can immediately “ As consumers find immediate treatment, we expect calls to traditional outlets like 911 will decline.”
Michael Underwood Director, Integrated Marketing and Communications
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William E. Metro Chairman and CEO, Founder
Harry Marshall Senior Managing Director, Managed Services
Larry Consalvos President and COO
connect with CCT’s QIP and meet the QIP requirement for access to treatment,” Loughery added. The QIP is a New Jersey Department of Health initiative that focuses on collaboration between hospitals and communitybased agencies to reduce individuals’ use of emergency departments and hospitalizations for behavioral and maternal health issues.
Relationship with the 988 Crisis Response System
“While we are not directly part of the 988 system, we support and complement the services and have received referrals from 988 for community-based care,” Underwood said.
“As 988 expands and the implementation of the regional 988 Mobile Crisis Outreach Response Teams is realized, we welcome the opportunity to collaborate with Carelon Behavioral Health, which is New Jersey’s 988 Managing Entity. We are also evaluating the requirements for becoming a participating 988 call center,” he added.
Growth Potential and Plans with NJAMHAA’s Support
“There’s no quick fix for these problems. We take the best and brightest and encapsulate the need into actionable
steps. With CCT, we find who can provide the care, but haven’t found the funnel to get people into care,” said Larry Consalvos, President and COO. “We’re evolving as so many people are looking for a solution. The potential for growth is incredible, and working with NJAMHAA is helpful. We see the spectrum of possible ways to grow this.”
“The BHH currently services the Catholic Charities programs in central New Jersey, and we’ve built the capacity to expand the service to other areas,” Underwood said. “Since the inception of the BHH, we’ve had conversations with local governments and private behavioral healthcare providers on how we can support and streamline processes by offering the community a single point of contact for behavioral health needs in their immediate locales.”
“Our membership with NJAMHAA has aided in showcasing our BHH operations to existing behavioral and mental health providers who desire to bring efficiency to their programs. NJAMHAA brings us closer to like-minded advocates committed to serving our communities’ behavioral and mental health needs,” Underwood added.
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