Expanding Value Based Care in NC: Through a two-year grant from the Delta Center for a Thriving Public Safety Net, i2i worked in partnership with the NC Community Health Centers Association to promote, through education and collaboration, the principles around value-based care. In 2020, i2i hosted a collaborative on value-based care that included providers and LME/MCOs. Through that collaborative process, outdated statewide policies that had obstructed expanded value-based efforts were waived by NC DHHS and components of a developed pilot were implemented in individual LME/MCOs.
The 2021 Grant is focusing on defining the value of the care management role in Medicaid Transformation for consumers and family members. A collaborative of consumers and providers will work together to develop principles and philosophies to inform the care management role in Medicaid managed care. For example, interviews with collaborative members have shown the priority they put on building trusted relationships between care managers and individuals and family members. The collaborative’s efforts will result in their recommendations being sent to NC DHHS leaders for incorporation into State policies. The group will also, identify next steps that collaborative members can take to advocate for these recommendations using their affiliations and development of a webinar to broaden and further the discussion.
Facilitated NC’s move toward the use of National Standards to Improve the Coordination of Children’s Services. i2i has had several opportunities to educate and inform stakeholders on using the System of Care national guiding principles to shift practices to State and federal priorities such as Medicaid managed care, Families First Prevention Services Act move away from congregate setting services to prevention, Raise the Age of the juvenile jurisdiction and School-Based Mental Health. A summit and regional trainings on System of Care as it relates to all these policy shifts were offered to System of Care staff, Lead Family Partners and stakeholders from local social services, juvenile justice and education. i2i has also researched efforts around other states on System of care that has informed the State on next steps in North Carolina. Finally, in January 2021, i2i partnered with Benchmarks to offer a webinar on The Bridge Between System of Care and Medicaid Managed Care: Looking at the Value Proposition which drew a large audience of over 700 from behavioral and I-DD providers, managers, family advocates, consumers, and others.
Strengthened Advocacy for Children’s Services. i2i works with the NC Collaborative for Children, Youth and Families Policy and Research Work Group to provide facilitation, education, and guidance to strengthen their advocacy capacity. i2i produces a weekly legislative and policy update sent to a vast network of stakeholders in the NC System of Care structure. This work has led to four statewide regional advocacy institutes training of over 1,000 child mental health advocates and professionals, a webinar of Medicaid Transformation resources for consumers and a follow-up webinar to directly answer collected questions a newsletter, meetings with legislators and recommendations to impact legislation and policy related to children’s mental health.
Improved Quality of High-Level Care: Using a pilot of seven PRTFs and each LME/MCO, i2i made initial individual outreach and then facilitated group discussion to develop dashboard indicators to be used for statewide trending in PRTF care. This effort culminated in the implementation of a statewide dashboard that improves the use of data and the quality of care for children in PRTFs.
Assisting Individuals and Families with I-DD with Transition to Medicaid Managed Care: through the Cross-System Navigation in Managed Care Environment grant, a task group of consumers, family members and professionals were convened as i2i facilitated them through a process to develop recommendations impacting how individuals and families with I/DD can best navigate upcoming system changes under managed care. The outcomes included a white paper A Guide to Care Management in North Carolina: Context & Recommendations for Care Coordination under the North Carolina Tailored Plan which i2i presented to NC DHHS.
Medicaid Transformation Webinar: i2i along with the Cross System Navigation staff hosted 3 webinars open to all stakeholders on Medicaid Transformation and COVID-19 which drew over 1500 participants from I-DD community, as well as all segments of the service system.
Community Inclusion for Individuals with Mental Illness: The I’m IN: Community Inclusion Project was adapted from a toolkit developed by Temple University. This project convened and trained individuals with lived experience and representatives of existing mental health advocacy groups, community collaboratives, local managed care organizations, the Practice Improvement Collaborative, behavioral health providers, state agency representatives and others to promote the goal of inclusion of people with mental illness in their communities. This project resulted in the funding for the creation of four innovation local pilot project launched to expand community inclusion for individuals with mental illness in their community as well as a dedicated Facebook page. I’m In Webinars trainings and meetings drew over 500 participants.
Exceptional Annual Conferences: i2i’s hosts two statewide conferences a year which serve to provide critical information to all system leaders and stakeholders on statewide system changes, improvements in administrative operations and services, national policies, industry trends, technology advancements, whole person, consumer-focused care and more. i2i is well known across the state and country for the “Pinehurst Conference” offered in early winter. It is one of the largest and most anticipated annual behavioral/I-DD events in our state, offering opportunity to network with 1,000 system leaders, over 100 exhibitors and national Subject Matter Experts. The Spring Conference is held in Raleigh in mid-June and typically draws over 500 participants. In 2020, i2i successfully transitioned these to virtual events; hybrid in person/virtual events are anticipated in the future.
High Quality Marketing & Exposure: for over 25 years, i2i staff have successfully worked with industry and service leaders to offer superior marketing, advertising, sponsorship, networking, and collaborative opportunities. i2i has successful partnerships with some of the largest private Managed Care Organizations, LME/MCOs, Providers, Technology, and Industry leaders. Learn More. Contact jean@i2icenter.org .