NE Delta HSA Second Quarter 2014 Newsletter

www.nedeltahsa.org Volume 1, June 2014

Message from the Executive Director

Welcome to the second issue of our e-newsletter. We are excited to kick off our new fiscal year by hosting the Statewide Primary Care and Behavioral Health Integration Summit V in collaboration with the Louisiana Department of Health & Hospitals (DHH), the DHH Office of Behavioral Health and the State Team for Primary and Behavioral Healthcare. Mark your calendars for July 10, 2014!

In this newsletter, I want to tell you about a few highlights of our activity since our last newsletter and some initiatives we're working on for the coming year. We have successfully completed Phases II and III of our Local Government Entity (LGE) Readiness Assessment Criteria. This assessment enables us to further serve our citizens with the mental health, addictive disorder and developmental disability services they need throughout the 12 parishes of northeastern Louisiana. The criteria are comprised of clinical protocols, financial controls, human resources, legal resources, programmatic operations and purchasing & contracting. Our staff works diligently to ensure our citizens receive access to these services with excellent customer service and competent quality care delivered with dignity and respect.

As promised, we continue to build additional business relationships with entities that will bring even more services to the people we serve. We have a Memorandum of Understanding in place with several primary health care and FQHC providers. We are building a network of primary healthcare providers who share our values in providing quality, competent and accessible care to our citizens. Recent studies show that 68% of adults with mental illness have one or more chronic conditions, and one in five people have a mental illness or addiction. Primary care and behavioral health care integration benefits our citizens through:

Improved access to primary care services
Improved prevention, early identification and intervention to reduce the incidence of serious physical illnesses, including chronic disease
Increased availability of integrated, holistic care of behavioral and physical disorders
Better overall health outcomes
Reduction in unmanaged healthcare costs
Association with cutting-edge health care practices with shared benefits and the first of its kind in Louisiana.

We reported in our last newsletter that we achieved a one-year CARF accreditation. We have now been awarded a three-year accreditation by CARF International (the highest level possible), which further demonstrates that the programs and services we offer are of the highest quality, measurable and accountable. CARF is an independent, nonprofit accrediting body whose mission is to promote the quality, value, and optimal outcomes of services through a consultative accreditation process that centers on enhancing the lives of the persons served.

We have implemented additional operational efficiencies that will ultimately benefit our citizens: The Office for Citizens with Developmental Disabilities has become an integral part of the NE Delta HSA family. We have also reviewed our agreements with our contracting partners to ensure they meet the same stringent level of accountability to which we hold ourselves.

We thoroughly enjoyed the Town Hall meetings we conducted in collaboration with community partners in both East Carroll and West Carroll parishes. Citizens enthusiastically attended in force and not only learned about the services we offer, but they had the opportunity to express some of the needs they seek to fulfill. We plan on returning to these communities and visit many more throughout northeastern Louisiana this year.

Another NE Delta HSA priority this year is to engage more deeply with clergy and faith-based organizations. Studies show that more communication is needed to bridge the gap between formal behavioral health care providers and citizens in rural communities. We know that our clergy can help strengthen this linkage.

In addition to our newsletter kickoff in early 2014, we rolled out our new NE Delta HSA website in the spring. We encourage you to use the site as an informational resource. Please tell your colleagues and friends about it, because our goal is to broaden awareness of the services available to our citizens. Follow us on Twitter and Like us on Facebook to receive notifications about activity throughout northeastern Louisiana. This year we will expand our informational resources to include NE Delta HSA radio blogs and a YouTube channel to document our community events and provide additional resources. Stay tuned!

Dr. Monteic A. Sizer

Executive Director

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NE Delta HSA in Action: Fulfilling our promise to deliver integrated behavioral health and primary health care

Behavioral health and primary care integration builds a more comprehensive, holistic set of services for our clients. It ensures that a client's needs are met, whether they first visit a behavioral health or primary care facility.

See photos below of recent MOA signings throughout our region. More signings are in the works!

Dr. Sizer, Blake Kramer, and NE Delta HSA Board Member (Franklin Parish Representative) Terri Spence signing MOA

Northeast Delta HSA and Franklin Parish Hospital District signed an agreement to provide integrated behavioral health and primary care to the citizens of Franklin Parish.

"This agreement supports our goal to ensure every patient receives the care they need with great satisfaction and service."

Blake Kramer, Franklin Medical Center CEO

Dr. Sizer and Morehouse Community Medical Centers CEO Katie Parnell signing MOA

Northeast Delta HSA and Morehouse Community Medical Centers CEO signed an agreement to provide integrated behavioral health and primary care to the citizens of Morehouse Parish.

"Through our primary care and school-based facilities, we anticipate this agreement will help us reach even more residents."

Katie Parnell, Morehouse Medical Center CEO

Jacqueline D. Schauf, Tensas Community Health Center CEO/Executive Director and Dr. Sizer signing MOA

Northeast Delta HSA and Morehouse Community Medical Centers CEO signed an agreement to provide integrated behavioral health and primary care to the citizens of Morehouse Parish.

"As a Federally Qualified Health Center, we want to improve health outcomes for all citizens of Tensas Parish. This MOA will help us offer an even greater depth of service."

Jacqueline D. Schauf, Tensas Community Health Center CEO/Executive Director

Catherine Tonore, president and chief executive officer of PHSC and Dr. Sizer signing MOA

Northeast Delta HSA and Primary Health Services Center CEO Catherine Tonoroe signed an agreement in November 2013 to provide integrated behavioral health and primary care to the citizens of Ouchita and surrounding parishes.

"We provide so many crucial services at PHSC, but partnering with NEDHSA to ensure patients receive the depth of mental health and substance abuse services they need is a collaboration that will help us all better serve our region and our people."

Catherine Tonore, President and CEO of Primary Health Services Center

STATEWIDE PRIMARY CARE AND BEHAVIORAL HEALTH
INTEGRATION

SUMMIT V

July 10, 2014

Hosted by NE Delta HSA

and presented by Louisiana DHH, OBH and the

Louisiana State Team for Primary and Behavioral Healthcare Integration,

in partnership with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)

Monroe, LA

Click here for registration form

For more

information, contact

Avius Zimmerman

[email protected]

Northeast Delta

HSA

Board Members

Ouachita Parish

E.H. Baker

Gene Tarver

Anna Toston Edwards

Thelma Merrells

Morehouse Parish

Chuck Halley

Lorraine Reed

Lincoln Parish

Joyce Brazzel

Michael Shipp

Caldwell Parish

James Mobley

East Carroll Parish

Lekeisha Powell

West Carroll Parish

Melba Sandifer

Madison Parish

Charlie Trimble

Tensas Parish

Leslie Durham

Franklin Parish

Terri Spence

Union Parish

Alisa Lear

Jackson Parish

Windy Calahan

Richland Parish

Kathy Waxman

CARF awards its longest-running accreditation to NE Delta HSA

Since our last newsletter edition, CARF International awarded Northeast Delta Human Services Authority a three-year accreditation.

This accreditation decision represents the highest level of accreditation that can be awarded to an organization and shows the organization's substantial conformance to the CARF standards. An organization receiving a Three-Year Accreditation has put itself through a rigorous peer review process and has demonstrated to a team of surveyors during an on-site visit that its programs and services are of the highest quality, measurable, and accountable.

"Earning this accreditation demonstrates the level of innovation and creativity our board was hoping Dr. Sizer would bring to NE Delta HSA as the new executive director," said Alisa Lear, NE Delta HSA Board Chair. "This CARF designation brings even more credibility to the organization, and ensures that the services offered to our citizens meet high standards."

"We are thrilled to have such a rigorous external review, conducted by surveyors who know our business well, affirm that our services are robust and meet CARF's high, national standards," said Dr. Monteic A. Sizer, Executive Director of NE Delta HSA. "Our Corporate Compliance Group and many of our staff members have worked tirelessly to ensure our services continuously meet the needs of our clients."

NE Delta HSA Logo Symbolizes Positive, Continual Transformation

You'll find our new logo within just about everything we publish, including our website, our Facebook page and our Twitter site. We include our logo to reinforce awareness of the services we offer to people throughout northeastern Louisiana. Soon we will have a You Tube channel and an audio blog, and our logo will be prominently displayed within these mediums, too. Have you ever wondered why we chose a phoenix to represent our services?

The phoenix within our logo represents the shedding of old ways and renewal toward a better existence. It also represents the sun that sinks below the horizon each day and fades away into ashes, rising again each day anew. The ashes are not those of destruction, but rather of hope and wisdom. As with the phoenix, we are always in some phase of growth and transformation. We use the ashes of our former selves to create the person we are destined to become.

Take a look at our social media pages!