Individuals with Mental Health and Substance Use Needs

Women hugging at community center support group

Through our mental health and substance use disorder (SUD) programs, we proactively help members break down barriers to wellness and chart a roadmap to recovery. Our teams are behavioral health advocates, bringing together the mind-body connection so that our members stay healthy and happy.

Key components of our mental health and SUD programs include:

 

Best practices:

  • Our expert physical and behavioral health clinicians work as a unified, multidisciplinary team to coordinate services and supports that meet our member’s needs holistically. Our team develops and manages these programs in-house, building on what we’ve learned from our deep experience and adapting best practices to meet the unique needs of the members and communities we serve.

Round-the-clock support:

  • We have extensive experience integrating and coordinating crisis management services in‐house, including 24/7 crisis intervention and emergency services and a Nurse Help Line for non‐emergency medical and behavioral health questions.

Innovative technologies:

  • We use innovative technologies such as our web‐based telehealth solution to give members access to qualified behavioral health providers and services. Overall member satisfaction with our telehealth program is 87%, with 50% of those responding reporting that they would not have access to a behavioral health provider without this technology.

Provider partnerships:

  • We work directly with providers to give them access to tools and supports to engage with members and enhance their behavioral health capabilities. We offer interactive provider scorecards with data on key service and quality metrics, and use value-based payment strategies to promote the delivery of high quality care that improves member outcomes.

Helping members live their best lives is what drives us – we’re with them every step of the way during their recovery process.

Helping members live their best lives is what drives us – we’re with them every step of the way during their recovery process.

Helping members live their best lives is what drives us – we’re with them every step of the way during their recovery process.

Through our innovative programs and best practices, we realized positive results:

 

116% increase in behavioral health visits, 15% decrease in inpatient admissions, and 59% decrease in ER visits for members with SMI diagnoses and cooccurring diabetes. A 2.8 % decrease in the 30‐day readmission rate for members with substance use disorders, and a 5.2% decrease in the 90‐day SUD readmission rate.

 

A 2016 Most Innovative Behavioral Health Practice Award by the Medicaid Health Plan Association for Amerigroup Georgia’s Psychotropic Drug Medication Management Coaching Program as a best practice for ensuring safe and effective medication therapy for youth in foster care.