Association for Behavioral Healthcare (ABH) & Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers

The Massachusetts team advanced the relationship between Mass League and ABH by sharing best practices for rapid telehealth expansion and identifying areas for coordinated advocacy. Additionally, the Massachusetts team’s work to prepare providers for telehealth through the Delta Center enhanced their ability to rapidly shift to offering care via telehealth in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Successes: 

• Hosted a joint training on telehealth for over 100 providers to prepare them as the healthcare system shifted towards integration of physical and behavioral healthcare, for how to use telehealth as a tool to deliver high quality services to individuals when, where, and how they need them. The training covered how to establish telehealth capability within agencies, common operational challenges to starting a telehealth practice, and key considerations including client privacy, program staffing, and handling risk. In addition the training featured MassHealth and other Massachusetts payers who discussed regulatory requirements and plans' approaches, policies, and requirements for telehealth services.
• Conducted survey to assess members’ interest in value-based payment strategies. Hosted joint training to build member capacity in Adaptive Leadership-based strategies and approaches for staff management. The half-day training was led by Kimberlyn Leary, PhD of the Harvard School of Public Health.