855-800-8886 
Published Date:
Dec 10, 2024
Exclusive
Mental Health
Addiction
Drugs
share
CMS Outlines New Tech Stack Rules For ‘No Wrong Door’ Community Health
Here's what I'm watching today.
Could CMS’ new innovation plan summon a crushing change in the traditional electronic healthcare record's technology stack? If CMS has its way it looks like meaningful changes are ahead.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) have introduced the Innovation in Behavioral Health (IBH) Model, a “No Wrong Door” approach aimed at integrating behavioral and physical health services. This program, running from January 2025 to December 2032, focuses on whole-person community facing care where hyper-integrated teams work together to treat patients. Eligible providers, such as behavioral health organizations, will coordinate screenings, assessments, treatment, and referrals for mental, physical, and social needs, with the goal of reducing emergency visits and finally improving long term outcomes.
We're heard this before, of course. But this "no-wrong-door" could get people focused on working together -- certainly a paradigm change in thinking about who owns the patient, an Oregon physician recently told me.
Central to the IBH model’s success is the innovative use of advanced technology. But, providers will need a fully-integrated electronic health record (EHR) system, or ideally a Gen4 Health Cloud, capable of community interoperability—enabling the seamless exchange of consumer data between providers, payers, and external organizations.
There are only a few tech stacks now capable of out-of-the box capabilities. That's going to take some thought about how to connect the entire community in one operating ecosystem.
That’s a tough ask however. Providers will need pathways to complete health profiles, track external care visits, and identify gaps in care. With more expansive datasets, organizations can assess risks and intervene proactively, improving care and reducing emergency interventions.
The plan also requires additional tools to support care management and coordination. Providers will benefit from decision support tools, population health platforms, telehealth capabilities, and mobile charting to facilitate proactive care. Care coordination platforms will be essential to managing patient needs across multiple services.
Unfortunately, providers will likely have to overhaul existing EHRs to comply as CMS pushes the industry towards community population health and value capitated payment schemes, like per-member-per-month billing.
"I predict this plan will be as popular as primary care’s direct primary care business model that's quickly taking hold. Physicians and patients alike love it, says Ed DeShields, President of YOUU Health. That structure is going to spur progress with IBH."
The IBH model distinguishes itself from the Certified Community Behavioral Health Centers (CCBHC) by emphasizing value-based payments, which reward outcomes instead of specific services. Additionally, health equity strategies are a required component, encouraging states to align their Medicaid and Medicare programs.
Providers interested in the IBH model will have one year to explore and implement their technology stack to meet these requirements.
As noted by industry experts, the ability to integrate third-party data, leverage care management platforms, and adopt a population health approach will be critical to thriving in this model.
Will this CMS innovation enable technological and process change to become a key factor to improve population health?
We’ll be watching.
About YOUU Health:
YOUU Health is the most powerfully interconnected healthcare navigation platform ever.
Our hyper-connected network effect health cloud allows you to quickly build your healthcare community across any care continuum for the life of the patient. Connect to any provider or care team anywhere - in one platform - to navigate or coordinate care for your patient with ease. Then, wrap it with the important revenue driving and clinical outcome producing workflows. You'll be amazed how easy it is to build a thriving practice.
For more information on the YOUUniverse for your practice visit YOUU.com or for a demonstration or discussion please visit our calendar HERE.
Other Blogs
We Need a Small World for a New World of Healthcare
Exclusive
Mental Health
Addiction
Drugs
Behavioral Technology Takes Aim at Urban Violence
Exclusive
Mental Health
Addiction
Drugs
Are Trump and Elon breaking up with the Federal Income Tax?
Exclusive
Mental Health
Addiction
Drugs
CMS Outlines New Tech Stack Rules For ‘No Wrong Door’ Community Health
Exclusive
Mental Health
Addiction
Drugs
Other Blogs
Have Questions? Lets Meet
Select a time you like to meet with us
