We were excited to host a presentation from HMA’s Cara Henley and Josh Rubin as they discuss the recently published proposed 1115 waiver amendment request Strategic Health Equity Reform Payment Arrangements (SHERPA). This proposed $13.5 billion waiver would be the biggest healthcare transformation initiative in New York since DSRIP. Cara and Josh will discuss what’s in the proposal, the process of turning the proposal into a new set of Medicaid rules for New York, and the implications of the proposal for community behavioral health providers.

Exploring a merger, partnership, or other type of deep collaboration with another nonprofit is hard. Doing it successfully requires the active involvement of both the executive director and the board of directors. This panel featured CEOs, EDs and Board Members from Rising Ground, Harlem Dowling-West Side Center for Children and Family and The Children’s Village discussing how mission-driven board leaders can do to ensure that these explorations are successful. The panelists talked about their own experiences and decision making when dealing with a merger situation.

The event focused on how for-profit companies are doing business in what is historically a not-for-profit arena, what the similarities and differences are, and what opportunities for collaboration may exist. Linda Rosenberg, Director of External Relations for Columbia University’s Department of Psychiatry and former CEO of the National Council for Behavioral Health (now the National Council for Mental Wellbeing) moderated, with panelists:

• Traci Donnelly, Child Center of New York

• Debbian Fletcher-Blake, VIP Community Services

• Jeremy Gelber, CenterBridge

• David Guth, Centerstone

• Roy Wallach, Liberty Behavioral Management Group

The second session in our Industry Consolidation Series was a panel discussion in which professionals in the behavioral health community discussed mergers and strategic partnerships, and their own experiences with the process.

As provider organizations consider strategies for success and sustainability, one option is some type of merger, acquisition, or other collaboration. In this session, Monica Oss, Chief Executive Officer of OPEN MINDS, walked through both the strategic issues to consider and a best practice process for designing a new relationship with another organization.

New interoperability rules from CMS and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) create big changes in requirements for mental health and substance use providers. Providers will need to share patient data more freely, both with other healthcare providers and with their clients.

Joe Parks, MD, Medical Director of the National Council, will provide an overview of the new rules to members and discuss strategies for compliance. Dr. Parks will also discuss research on concurrent and collaborative documentation.

AJ Peterson, Vice President and General Manager of CareGuidance at Netsmart, will discuss how to use EHRs to build and automate compliance with these new regulations. Netsmart is an affiliate member of the Coalition.

Practicing your “Pitch” to MCOs: Selling Your Value

The Coalition for Behavioral Health and NY ASAP have come together to establish a Business Recovery Center with the goal of finding innovative solutions that will drive fiscal viability in the behavioral health sector. The initiative has been driven by several workgroups, including one on the Delivery System. This Workgroup has created a tool to help community behavioral health providers develop innovative program and payment models and pitch them to managed care organizations.

As the behavioral health industry transforms through increased competition, changes in regulation, programming and clinical evolution, technology needs, additional investor interest, and a national spotlight, providers are finding that they also need to shift course to address sustainability and growth opportunities. This session covered evolving changes across the behavioral health landscape, how these changes are influencing capital needs, and what impact they have on strategies to access capital.

Presenters were Vasanta B. Pundarika and Amanda Verner Thompson, Co-Heads of Healthcare Investment Banking at Matrix Capital Markets Group.

Joshua Rubin and Cara Henley of Health Management Associates on the strategic implications of the new 1115 Waiver Demonstration Concept Paper, and how community mental health and substance use organizations can advance their priorities through this new waiver. The Coalition has prepared a summary of the waiver concept paper, available at this link. This presentation is funded through a grant from the New York Community Trust.

As agencies reopen more of their in-person services, they need practical tools for addressing vaccine hesitancy among both their staff and clients. Deb Peartree and Joshua Rubin of Health Management Associates joined Coalition members for an interactive dialogue about the strategies agencies around the City and across the country have embraced to increase their in-person services. The presentation included common concerns raised by staff about the COVID vaccines, and the messaging that has been effective in increasing vaccination rates.

At a time of multiple crises in the world a behavioral health delivery system under stress as never before, Dr. Sherry Glied explored the opportunities behavioral health providers have to break old molds and develop new models of service that can improve outcomes, bottom lines, and organizational functioning. Join us to hear one of America’s leading thinkers about the economics of behavioral healthcare as she helps to envision a new, stronger, more sustainable, and more impactful behavioral health delivery system. The recording is available at this link.

Sponsored by Netsmart, Qualifacts + Credible, an esteemed panel of speakers discussed how New York’s prevention agenda for behavioral health will improve the health and well-being of all New Yorkers and promote health equity in all populations who experience disparities.

The panelists were: Jo Ivey Boufford, MD, NYU School of Global Public Health (slides); Ann M. Sullivan, MD, Commissioner, NYS Office of Mental Health (slides); David Cohen, MD, MSc, Maimonides Medical Center; and Kishor Malavade, MD, Maimonides Medical Center (slides). A recording of the webinar is available at this link.

Contact Information for Sponsors
Credible + Qualifacts: Greg Fields, Regional Sales Manager - gregory.fields@credibleinc.com
Netsmart: Sandra Rocha, Client Development Executive - srocha@ntst.com

Sponsored by Qualifacts + Credible, this conversation featured national colleagues shared insights on pressing issues facing our nation. Charles Ingoglia, President & CEO of the National Council, was joined by: Al Guida, President/Principal of Guide Consulting Services; Amanda Deaver, President of Upstream Strategic Communications; and Reyna Taylor, Vice President of Public Policy of The National Council. The video is available at this link.
Contact Information for Qualifacts + Credible: Greg Fields, Regional Sales Manager - gregory.fields@credibleinc.com

First Lady of NYC Chirlane McCray and Linda Rosenberg joined The Coalition for a discussion of their recent white paper, A Path Forward: Mental Health and the United States Pandemic Response.
Amy Dorin, President & CEO of the Coalition, moderated the discussion, which included the mental health impacts of COVID-19, workforce challenges, addiction, and kids' mental health.
The video is available at this link.

Colliers International hosted a webinar for members, presented by Vice Chairman Robert Tunis and Director Jared Rutledge. The presentation covers current and forecast market conditions, how to assess landlord vulnerability, optimizing your planning and more. The slides from the presentation are available at this link, and the video is available at this link.