Join HSAG to enhance patient outcomes and reduce readmissions.

People with alcohol use disorder or depression suffer from a lack of sufficient treatment due to being underdiagnosed, while those afflicted with serious mental illness are at risk for readmission because of ineffective care transitions.

To address this growing concern, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has set national goals to improve behavioral health outcomes among patients, specifically in primary care settings and inpatient psychiatric facilities (IPFs).

Health Services Advisory Group (HSAG), the Medicare Quality Innovation Network-Quality Improvement Organization (QIN-QIO) for Arizona, California, Florida, Ohio, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, works directly with physician offices and IPFs to make strides in improving behavioral health outcomes. In our capacity as QIN-QIO, HSAG innovates efficient, effective improvement strategies that lead to rapid, large-scale change. Together, we can give the communities we serve the quality care they need.

Primary Care Settings

Objective: Increase the identification of persons with depression or alcohol use disorder in primary care settings. 

• Provides assistance to integrate depression and alcohol screenings into your practice’s existing workflow.
• Conducts learning sessions that include guidance on proper screening and coding.
• Offers technical assistance for implementing evidence-based best practices and providing reports, analysis, and insights on your data.
• Connects you with peers, key stakeholders, community organizations, and nationally recognized experts to address depression and alcohol abuse.

Inpatient Psychiatric Facilities

Objectives: Reduce the 30-day readmission rate and increase 7-day and 30-day outpatient follow-up rates for psychiatric discharges.

• Connects your IPF with local outpatient behavioral health networks to expand available discharge options.
• Conducts learning sessions regarding evidence-based care coordination models and information about Inpatient Psychiatric Facility Quality Reporting. 
• Offers technical assistance for implementing evidence-based best practices and providing reports and analysis of your readmission and follow-up rates.
• Connects your IPF with other facilities, key stakeholders, community organizations, and nationally recognized experts to address behavioral health concerns and strategies. 

¹Area Agency on Aging and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Older Americans Behavioral Health Issue Brief: Series Overview. Available at https://www.ncoa.org/wp-content/uploads/Series-Overview-Issue-Brief-1.pdf, Accessed on July 22, 2015.
²Elixhauser A, Steiner C. Readmissions to U.S. Hospitals by Diagnosis, 2010. Statistical Brief 153. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. April 2013.
³Jeste DV, Alexopoulos GS, Bartels SJ, et al. Consensus statement on the upcoming crisis in geriatric mental health: Research agenda for the next 2 decades. Archives of General Psychiatry. 1999; 56(9):848-853.2.