OMH Cost of Living Adjustment 2018
(COLA) 2018
Effective April 1, 2018 there will be an increase to mental health outpatient provider rates to reflect legislative cost of living adjustment (COLA) increases in salary and salary related fringe benefits costs for certain staff at Office of Mental Health (OMH) licensed not-for-profit providers. As prescribed by law this is a two-phase release. Phase 1, for direct care and direct support staff. A notification to plans was sent out by OMH on November 1, 2017 with an effective date of January 1, 2018. Phase 2, for direct care, direct support, and clinical care staff, is effective April 1, 2018 and is the subject of this communication.
These increases affect the following mental health outpatient programs in New York:
- Assertive Community Treatment (ACT)
- Continuing Day Treatment (CDT)/Hospital Based
- Continuing Day Treatment (CDT)/Free Standing
- Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program (CPEP)
- Partial Hospitalization
- Personalized Recovery Oriented Services (PROS)
- OMH-licensed Article 31 Mental Health Clinics Reimbursed under APG Methodology
Accumedic’s Support Team has put together a white paper on how to manage your fee schedule to accommodate these up and coming changes.
Let’s Talk About The Value of Electronic Referrals and Scheduling Automation
Maintaining continuity of care is an integral part of every provider’s treatment process, especially within the behavioral healthcare community. Quite often, clients’ needs require the services of a variety of dispirit providers, ranging from mental health and substance abuse clinics to hospitals and medical outpatient facilities.
One possible gap in a client’s treatment can occur when he/she is referred to an additional care provider. If not executed properly, the referral process may compromise the quality of care. Delayed or missing information and even missed appointments could occur and have detrimental affects on client’s wellbeing and outcomes. In order to avoid this possible lapse in treatment, the attending care providers must ensure the timely and secure transfer of documentation, as well as efficient and convenient appointment scheduling.
Modernize and automate your referral process with AccuMed™ EHR Direct Messaging.
Harness our cutting-edge technology to enable secure, electronic sharing of continuity of care documentation directly with the client’s treatment team. With AccuMed ™ EHR the referral notification and required documents are sent simultaneously within a HIPAA-secure environment. The immediate sharing of clinical information helps promote improved care, through informed, follow-up treatment decisions. Secure, automated scheduling with AccuMed™ EHR and your partner treatment facilities makes referral scheduling easy, while the client is still in your office. Automated alerts and reminders can be set up to ensure appointments are kept, all providing a seamless transition between providers for better continuity of care.
A Value-Add for Clients and Agencies alike
Clients – receive referral and confirmed follow-up appointment, all during the initial visit. Convenient, automated scheduling helps insure the follow-up appointments are made and the automated reminders help ensure they’re kept.
Agencies – manage referrals quickly, accurately, and securely while expediting the scheduling process and reducing the burden on administrative staff. Direct Messaging enables the immediate sharing of clinical documentation in order to prepare the follow-up caregiver with a complete understanding of the clients’ health and treatment status. Scheduling automation helps improve client attendance and alleviates staff of the burden of following-up with clients and subsequent caregivers.
AccuMed™ EHR provides agencies with the innovative technology to easily adapt their workflow to the rapidly changing demands of today’s healthcare community.
The white paper and the OMH COAL Rate Sheet are available in our knowledge base by searching key word “COLA2018”
Please remember to rate the knowledge base article. Your feedback is very important to us!
