Summit County selected the University of Utah to provide Behavioral Health services starting in September. The program’s success depends on signing up local mental health providers who are willing to participate in the program. KPCW has details on how providers can become part of the new community behavioral health network.
University of Utah Senior Medicaid Program Manager, Tracy Altman says the Neuro-Psychiatric Institute, known as UNI, can deliver safety net services to Summit County but engaging community providers is the model needed to bring better mental health care access for more people.
"Our intent is to include the community as much as possible. Essentially, our model has always been to have community networks. And, we know that there are great providers in this community that want to support this community and we’ve had great interest.”
Altman says the credentialing process and the contract is simple. They have local contract specialists and provider services.
“For mental health, behavioral health providers, substance abuse providers, their office staff, anyone who is interested who is in that field. It’s very cut and dried. It’s a lot easier to negotiate because we are local. You don’t have to worry about a national entity that you have to run through the contract with.”
Medicaid services are reimbursed at a lower amount than what private practitioners can make. But Altman says they pay network providers quickly, and she says, they have worked transparently with providers throughout the state of Utah who can vouch for their operational practices.
“The difference is that it’s all regulated through the state and so, there are certain rules that we all have to follow. There are requirements where we have to pay within 30 days.”
Summit County Director of Behavioral health, Aaron Newman says he wants all 75 providers currently practicing in Summit County to consider joining the network because reducing wait times better addresses patient’s needs.
“But then also it helps address the stigma. We have a lot of people in this community that qualify for Medicaid. And, for a multitude of reasons, they feel like they can handle it on their own. They’re embarrassed to go towards it. The more we sort of mainstream people accessing Medicaid, as a county, that’s better for us because that’s more revenue coming in to help with these services.”
The Summit County Behavioral Health Provider Open House is Wednesday from 4 to 6:30 and again Thursday, from 11:30 to 2 at the Park City Library Community Room.
