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Public Health and Mental Health Departments recommending Chairman be authorized to sign Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) 669-PHD0907 with Barton Healthcare System formally establishing the County's participation in the ACCEL (Access El Dorado) Care Pathways Program.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Approve.
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Fiscal Impact/Change to Net County Cost: There are no fiscal provisions or net County cost associated with this item.
Background: ACCEL is a county-wide health collaborative dedicated to improving El Dorado County residents access to and quality of health care, in part by building transparent patient program linkages across agencies.
The Care Pathways Program is a cross-agency case management program to ensure that a resident's needs are attended to throughout many encounters in the health access and delivery process. Each pathway defines the problem to be addressed, the desired positive outcome, and the key intervention steps required to achieve the outcome. The program provides a standardized accountable structure to shift the focus towards defined outcomes. It is a patient-centric process that addresses one health care issue at a time. As work steps are completed, they are defined by a measurable outcome.
Pathways can address administrative access or clinical issues. To date, five Care Pathways have been implemented: Securing Health Care Coverage, (Newborns) Securing Health Care Coverage, Obtaining a Medical Home, (Newborns) Utilizing a Medical Home Appropriately, and Pediatric Mental Health Consult. Community Health Workers (CHW) assist and monitor the person/patient progress through a Pathway.
Care Pathways were developed as a paper process to enable clear cross-agency patient referrals with transparent interactive work process definition. Automation of the paper processes was always envisioned to increase efficiencies, accurate timely communication, and improved patient outcomes. ACCEL Participants automation of the paper processes will occur over time.
Barton has acquired and is hosting the technology used to provide the Care Pathways Services. Barton will allow those parties selected by ACCEL, who enter into formal, written agreements, to access that technology in accordance with the terms and conditions of their respective Participation MOUs.
Reason for Recommendation: El Dorado County has been a leader in the effort to develop and implement this program. Approval of this MOU on behalf of Public Health and Mental Health is a formal step toward participating in Care Pathways, linking patient health, demographic, and financial information with other participating healthcare providers throughout the County. Those providers, who have entered into identical agreements with Barton, currently include the El Dorado Community Health Center and the Tribal Health Council.
This MOU was drafted by County Counsel and approved by Risk Management.
Action to be taken following Board approval: Chairman to sign three (3) copies of the attached MOU; Board Clerk's Office to return two (2) copies to Public Health; Public Health to forward copies to Mental Health and Barton.
Contact: Dan Buffalo