1. 1 Consumer/Family Satisfaction Teams (C/FST): Harriet Baum, Executive Director NAMI Southwestern Pennsylvania New Directions in Consumer and Family Involvement

2. 2 Why C/FST? Local consumers & families advocated for inclusion in evaluation of service quality State DPW emphasized consumer satisfaction as a key indicator of service quality Allegheny County PA Consumer Action & Response Team (CART), a project of NAMI Southwestern PA, began interviewing consumers & families about satisfactions /dissatisfactions with behavioral services (1998). Program is funded through support from Allegheny County Department of Human Services and Community Care Behavioral Health (Medicaid managed care BHMCO).

3. 3 CART is designed to provide: Processes for consumers & families to dialogue with service providers Provider responses to consumer dissatisfactions Data collection and analysis Aggregate reports to of system trends Identify both satisfaction & dissatisfaction Feedback from consumers discharged from the state hospital Information from underserved groups to system planners

4. 4 Advantages of Consumer/Family Satisfaction Teams Independence from provider organizations. Interviewers are former/recipients of services & family members. The interviewers conduct anonymous face-to-face interviews. Consumers provide more detailed responses because of the semi-structured format of interviews. Provider organizations can demonstrate their commitment to quality improvement by using C/FST reports.

5. 5 C/FST interviews persons & their parents who utilize Behavioral Health Services funded under Medicaid Managed Care: Adult Mental Health Services Child/Adolescent Mental Health Services Drug and Alcohol Services Underserved populations

6. 6 Goal: To find out if parents & consumers are satisfied with the various aspects of behavioral health services, such as providers, choice, access service delivery and outcomes Survey consumers/parents for each service and for each providers Utilize a problem resolution process Produce reports for each provider service Produce aggregate reports for Behavioral Health MCO and System planners Publish reports for community stakeholders Process:

7. 7 The Survey Process Interviews should be face-to-face or telephone if preferred by the member Provider sites must provide C/FSTs with comfortable private space for interviews

8. 8 Reviewing the C/FST findings C/FST provide feedback to service providers through written reports and monthly problem resolution meetings that allow for dialogue and review of findings Providers are responsible for timely reports back to the C/FSTs on specific actions, quality improvements and problem resolution on identified issues

9. 9 Process for problem identification and resolution Monthly meetings with representatives of county, BHMCO, C/FST interviewers, NAMI to review provider reports, responses and need for action on issues raised BHMCO and county provider follow-up and response to C/FST on actions taken in response to problems and concerns resulting from survey process

10. 10 Reports Quarterly reports summarize findings, improvement actions and system changes implemented by Providers in response to C/FSTs’ findings:  By providers  By BHMCO

11. 11 C/FST Impact PA Department of Welfare Mandated expansion to all counties in managed behavioral health (HealthChoices) Defines C/FST- establishes organizational and team requirements, survey process and targeted satisfaction areas (Appendix L) C/FST Programs reviewed annually to ensure integrity of process

12. 12 Allegheny County - Impact Dissatisfaction with information about medication benefits and side effects – BHMCO developed and funded a consumer medication education initiative Dissatisfactions with housing and desire for independent living – county and BHMCO initiated a housing plan and $2 million housing development fund focusing on permanent supported housing Dissatisfaction with employment status – 2007 plan for the development of supported employment services and provider education

13. 13 Opportunities to Utilize C/FST Data: System Planning Service Development & Provider Training Policy Development Advocacy Major System changes

14. 14 For Additional Information: 2006 Annual Report “Steps Towards Recovery” Consumer Action and Response Team of Allegheny County Paul Freund, C/FST Program Director, pfreund@cartallegheny.org pfreund@cartallegheny.org Harriet Baum, Executive Director, NAMI Southwestern Pennsylvania, hbaum@namiswpa.orghbaum@namiswpa.org