Let’s Make A Deal Milwaukee County Behavioral Health Division Milwaukee WIser Choice November 2010 – July 2011

The Convener Team David Moore - Coach Janet Fleege – WIser Choice Project Director/Convener WIser Choice Providers: – ARCW -Benedict Center – Brighter Days-Empowerment Clinic – Guest House-Harambee/IMANI – Horizon, Inc.-Meta House – Recovery Network-United Community Center

Project Description This collaborative supported the work of preparing 10 providers for healthcare reform in 2014 – Medicaid track (5) Aim was to become Medicaid certified – Increasing billing revenues track (4) Aim was to increase already existing revenue sources – One wasn’t able to complete (1)

Activities 2 Face to Face meetings – Outside of Kick Off meeting – Coach was able to attend due to close geographic proximity Project conference calls – 2 tracks, focused on unique needs of each group – Ended with group call to support the work accomplished by each provider and to share lessons learned

Activities cont. One-on-One Coaching Calls – Providers benefited from individually identified support from coach and/or convener – Change project charter forms used to monitor progress and keep on track Focused training provided – Medicaid 101 An introduction to CPT & ICD-9 codes Medicaid modifiers and fee schedules Overview of Forward Health portal Claims processing

Activities cont. One-on-one meetings with Agency Directors (when requested) – Help ‘ask’ the right questions to further project progress Remove internal agency barriers – Support, encourage, validate work being done on behalf of fee for service initiative

Medicaid Track – Start from beginning Searching to see if they had an NPI #, obtain one if they didn’t – 4 of 5 obtained Medicaid certification One agency had several staff enroll in college to pursue degrees in Social Work/Human Services – One project experienced a 62% increase in billable revenue

Increasing Billing Revenues Track Of the 4 providers – All had at least 2 contracts outside of Medicaid – All in various stages of billing Searching to see if they had an NPI #, obtain one if they didn’t – Created new internal audit sheet to capture and monitor collection

Lessons Learned As a convener – Strong relationships with providers – Much to learn about medicaid certification and billing as well as 3rd party revenue sources Providers weren’t aware of their own bottom line – Heavy emphasis on county funding – Need to decrease dependency of county funding and increase 3rd party billing – More hopeful We can do this!

Lessons Learned, cont. Strong group of providers who can mentor others – Strong value in working with other providers and learning from each other, to encourage other providers Cross pollination There is no competition The need will always be there, but we may not be Not necessary to recreate the wheel

Lessons Learned, cont. Existing relationships needed strengthening – Providers did not have strong relationships w/contractors Marketing, Marketing, Marketing – We’ve been around, people know about us Changing world, changing climate, changing field – Need to respond to change

No longer one door! Door 1-WIser Choice/County Door 2-Medicaid Door 3-UBH Door 4-Icare > # of Doors – greater choice