People Incorporated is proud to be one of Minnesota’s first Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) demonstration grant holders. The initial CCBHC award enabled them to enhance service delivery, offering expanded care and access to individuals facing mental health and substance abuse challenges.
People Incorporated, a nonprofit organization, lives up to its name by connecting individuals in communities to vital programs and services through various channels, including crisis residences, outpatient clinics, outreach for people experiencing homelessness, intensive residential treatment services, case management, and behavioral health services.
Jill Wiedemann-West, CEO of People Incorporated, emphasized, “The CCBHC model is transforming our mental health system, and winning additional funding has expanded our ability to find creative solutions for our community’s most vulnerable people.” The added COVID relief funding sustained People Incorporated in providing integrated and holistic care, reaching individuals in diverse locations.
Since 2017, the organization has undergone transformative changes—from securing CCBHC funding to adapting care delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic and obtaining additional CCBHC funding through COVID relief awards—all of which required robust, scalable EHR solutions designed specifically for behavioral health organizations.
Selecting the Right EHR Platform
Following a comprehensive search for an EHR partner with strong CCBHC expertise, People Incorporated selected Qualifacts and its Credible EHR platform.
“Qualifacts became our third EHR vendor after we outgrew our two previous systems,because of this, we wanted to be very strategic in our decision to adopt the right new EHR. We knew that Qualifacts had done many large implementations for CCBHCs, and during our evaluation process we saw how Credible EHR would gain workflow configurability, integrated treatment plans, and the outcomes tracking and assessments we needed.” – Dan Carlson VP of Enterprise Solutions People Incorporated
Carlson added, “One of the things we most value about Credible is that we can manage and update our workflows as we grow. In the past, that would have meant signing contracts for projects and paying fees for a vendor to do the work for us. With Qualifacts, we can manage our growth ourselves.”
Meeting CCBHC Requirements
One of the greatest challenges for a CCBHC is how collecting the specific data required for CCBHC outcomes can impact the clinical workflows of frontline providers. With the highly configurable Credible EHR platform, users have the flexibility to build their own custom forms, expediting the data collection and reporting processes. When data collection is efficient and does not interfere with the clinical process, it can be collected more consistently and accurately. Credible also includes robust analytics and reporting tools for both clinical outcomes and operational key performance indicators.
Minnesota’s CCBHC treatment model uses the PPS 1 reimbursement model. Currently, Minnesota CCBHCs are using a fee-for-service workflow and getting the difference between the standard rate and the PPS rate in a separate payment, which Credible can manage. When and if Minnesota moves to a true PPS reimbursement model using trigger and shadow claims, Credible can support that reimbursement model as well.
The impact of People Incorporated’s efforts is reflected in the outcomes documented by the six Minnesota CCBHCs during the 2017-2019 original CCBHC program:
- 17,000+ Minnesotans received care, demonstrating early success in reducing severe depression rates, costly hospitalizations, and wait times for treatment.
- 28% decline in severe depression rates among current CCBHC patients.
- Seven-day decrease in the average wait time for initial health assessment among CCBHC patients.
A client survey also revealed significant improvements from the Minnesota CCBHC program, including:
- 82% of participants agreed that their condition improved.
- 28% decrease in severe depression from the initial to the last screening.
- 20% decrease in moderate depression from the initial to the last screening.
- Estimated hospitalization costs saved $976,832, indicating more efficient and effective service delivery.
People Inc. performed nearly
1 MILLION
total services in 2023
In a Published statement, CEO Wiedemann-West emphasized the organization’s commitment to transformative change stating, “Solving our need for better mental healthcare isn’t linear, and breaking down siloes we’ve had in place for generations won’t come without growing pains. But suppose we do it right, and pay attention to the research and models that are working well. In that case, we steward our fixed and shrinking budgets and resources better, and find more sustainable paths to well-being for individuals and communities.”
Configurable Clinical Workflows
Mary Givens, Qualifacts CCBHC Program Manager, expressed pride in supporting People Incorporated and highlighted the organization’s success in leveraging Credible clinical documentation, treatment plans, and assessments to enhance care while meeting compliance requirements.
“Our staff is dedicated to serving the people in our care. With Qualifacts and the Credible EHR, we now have the right tools to serve more people, more efficiently and effectively, than we were ever able to do before.” – Veronika Mix, VP for Community Engagement
People Incorporated treatment planning in Credible is also configurable, allowing all stakeholders for person-centered care to update integrated treatment plans as necessary. Credible includes a library of standard assessments and screening tools to be used by the CCBHC as part of addressing the outcomes and delivering to evidence-based practices.
Reporting, Analytics & BI for Actionable Insights
People Incorporated also relies on Credible’s set of robust reporting tools, including its Business Intelligence (BI) dashboards, to gather actionable analytics.
“We find quality reporting in Credible very helpful,” explained Char Groves, People Incorporated’s Quality Program Manager. “Not only do have dashboards for quick and real-time info and metrics, but we’ve also been able to develop common use tracking tools to support managers and program staff in understanding specific requirements and due dates for complete and compliant records.”
Credible offers a set of standard, out-of-the-box BI dashboards including ones for staff productivity, billable activities per day, unsigned documents, and financial reports including days on A/R, aging, and end-of-month dashboards. CCBHCs, including People Incorporated, can also build their dashboards for tracking Infrastructure Development, Prevention and Mental Health Promotion (IPP) Indicators, and Disparity Impact Statement goals. If the CCBHC is collecting the data, it can be pulled out into easy-to-interpret dashboards and reports that can be shared.
CLICK HERE to learn more about our EHR solutions for Minnesota.
