The Center for Life Resources, a multifaceted Texas Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (T-CCBHC) serving individuals in Central Texas, provides comprehensive mental health, intellectual and developmental disability (IDD), and substance use disorder services. It also offers Early Childhood Intervention (ECI), Focused Autism Services, a 14 bed Intermediate Care Facility and a 24-hour crisis hotline.
As a T-CCBHC since 2021, the Center has been serving clients across seven counties and provides care for adults, children, and adolescents. With approximately 4,000 individual clients annually, they sought out a technology solution capable of effectively managing multiple service lines and programs—meeting state, federal, and CCBHC reporting requirements—and remaining sustainable and scalable as they grow. To keep up with their growth and to meet security and compliance requirements, they needed the Software as a Service (SaaS) model and state-of-the-art hosting centers exceeding industry security standards that Qualifacts delivers.
A Game-Changer: The Credible EHR
The Center selected Qualifacts’ Credible EHR to meet a tight implementation timeline to comply with Texas state reporting regulations. Qualifacts’ proven implementation methodology helped the Center meet all its deadlines for state reporting, service documentation, and billing.
Tammie McKelvy, Chief Utilization Management and Quality Management Services at Center for Life Resources, commented, “The Qualifacts team truly understood our timeline and delivered a passionate and motivated implementation team.” McKelvy added, “Our Qualifacts partners recognized the importance of meeting the Texas deadline for state reporting, service documentation, and billing. Working together, we made it happen.”
A Smooth Implementation and Transformative Results
“Despite the tight timeline, the implementation of Credible was remarkably smooth,” McKelvy stated. “The Qualifacts implementation team provided exceptional support, guiding our staff through the process and ensuring a successful transition.” The Center’s clinical and case management staff quickly adapted to the new technology solution, utilizing its intuitive design and powerful capabilities such as configurable forms and the flexibility to add services. Mary Givens, CCBHC Program Manager with Qualifacts said, “The Center for Life Resources is a sophisticated and mature T-CCBHC who has taken full advantage of the configurability of Credible as well as its robust BI reporting tool. The Center knows how to leverage the tools Credible offers to make data-based decisions and does so as a regular practice. We are so proud to be their partner.”
The results of implementing Credible with the initial partnership and ongoing support of the Qualifacts team were transformative. Through Credible, the Center now has:
- Clean Encounter Data: With Qualifacts’ expert guidance on Texas state reporting, the Center successfully achieved clean encounter data, a critical requirement for state reporting.
- Data Collection and Reporting: The configurability of Credible allows for the agency to set up efficient and optimized workflows making it easy for frontline providers to consistently collect outcomes data. This is critical for required reporting on the quality of the T-CCBHC’s interventions and services as well as being able to quantify outcomes.
- State Reporting Efficiency: Credible has significantly improved the Center’s state reporting efficiency. Reporting time has been reduced by approximately 50% due to simplified configuration and a centralized state reporting grid. Qualifacts’ commitment to ongoing enhancements ensures that the system can adapt to evolving state reporting requirements, providing valuable flexibility for the Center.
- Quality Outcomes Reporting: Credible includes a suite of reporting tools, including a Business Intelligence tool and an Office of the National Coordinator quality measurement tool. These tools can be utilized to provide transparency into the T-CCBHCs quality indicators including the behavioral health led quality measures as well as other key performance indicators such as number of emergency room visits per client, number of inpatient stays per client, number of “no shows” for initial assessment, or number of deaths by suicide or overdose. Being able to easily view current performance of quality indicators and outcomes is critical to the T-CCBHC so that it can pivot to improve that performance.
- Optimized Data Management: The Directive Payment Program (DPP), reporting on service units was crucial for the Center. This involved tracking the number of services received by individuals and analyzing this data based on various criteria such as demographic, payer type, etc. Credible’s Business Intelligence (BI) tool was instrumental in managing this complex reporting. McKelvy stated, “A custom BI report I created automatically stratifies service unit data by managed care company and other relevant factors. This allows for easy comparison between our internal records and the managed care companies’ reports submitted to the state.”
- Improved Clinical Documentation: Clinicians and Case Managers found Credible’s templates and workflows intuitive, allowing them to focus more on client care and less on administrative tasks. Efficient clinical documentation is a strong asset when it comes to collecting data for the T-CCBHC outcomes for several reasons including collecting accurate data, ensuring compliance, more informed decision-making, improving outcomes, etc.
- Effective Crisis Services Management: When a crisis call comes in, Credible’s Advanced Search capability enables the Center to easily locate active or inactive clients using various search criteria, including social security number, phone number, last name, first name, and more. The intuitive documentation flow eliminates the need for constant form switching, allowing crisis workers to gather information more effectively. The efficient process minimizes frustration for crisis workers and clients, especially during stressful situations.
- Enhanced Satellite and Telehealth Services: Beyond its main facility, the Center operates satellite offices in seven counties. To provide comprehensive services to clients in rural areas, the Center’s medical staff conducts on-site assessments, including vital signs and screenings like the PHQ-9 and Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS). Clients can then remain at the satellite office, where the internet is reliable for their telehealth appointment. The prescribing provider can access the client’s assessments and screenings through Credible to deliver services.
- Ongoing Qualifacts Support: The Qualifacts Care Center (QCC) is available 24/7/365 to support customers. McKelvy stated, “This additional layer of support provides me with confidence that my cases are being addressed and resolved effectively.”
A Partnership for the Future
The Center has formed a strong partnership with Qualifacts. The ongoing support and commitment to innovation by Qualifacts have been instrumental in the Center’s success. McKelvy emphasized the importance of this partnership, “Qualifacts has been a true partner in our journey. Their dedication to our success, combined with their expertise and responsiveness, has been invaluable. We are excited to continue our partnership and explore the future possibilities that Credible can bring to our organization.”
About the T-CCBHC Initiative
Launched in 2016 by the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC), the Texas CCBHC (T-CCBHC) Initiative aligns CCBHC goals with the current Medicaid and behavioral health landscape in Texas. It underscores the state’s commitment to using T-CCBHCs as a leading model for delivering behavioral health services. While rooted in federal principles, the T-CCBHC model incorporates unique features tailored to Texas’ specific needs.
“Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics have become a cornerstone of bipartisan strategies to increase access to and improve the quality of behavioral health care in the United States,” said Amanda Mauri, an assistant professor/faculty fellow at the NYU School of Global Public Health and the lead author of two new studies on CCBHCs.
