We are pleased to share that Atrius Health was a first place awardee at the Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association’s (MHA) second Accountable Care Compass Awards event, which recognizes provider excellence and innovation in the delivery of high-quality, safe and efficient care. Atrius Health was named as a first-place winner in MHA’s “Providing Care to Special Populations” category for its entry titled Behavioral Health Adult Care Model Redesign.
Behavioral Health Adult Care Model Redesign Team
Behavioral health is an integral part of care at Atrius Health. We have one of the largest behavioral health outpatient practices in Massachusetts with over 150 clinicians serving 33,000 patients annually. Atrius Health’s entry highlights our recently completed four-year redesign of routine behavioral health care to improve patient access and provide higher quality care. The redesign, led by Jacob Kagan, MD, Chair, Behavioral Health, Michael Macina, MS, Director of Business and Operations, and Samuel Nordberg, PhD, Medical Director, Behavioral Health Innovation, sought to effectively treat the needs of those patients with highly complex behavioral health challenges sooner while making referrals to a preferred network of outpatient providers for higher functioning patients when necessary. Additionally, Atrius Health clinicians developed twelve pathways for treating behavioral health issues using weekly individual visits and skills classes, with a survey that is measuring outcomes of treatment. The goal is to support patients to achieve a higher quality of life reliability. Wait time for those in need of psychotherapy at Atrius Health has fallen from an average of 60 days to 14 days, with those in more urgent need receiving care sooner.
Atrius Health was also named a finalist in two other categories: “Physician Practice Innovations” and “Improvements Across the Care Continuum” for our entries, Total Joint Replacement Program and Care Facilitation Across a Large Ambulatory Pediatric Practice, respectively.
Atrius Health Teams: Total Joint Replacement and Pediatrics
“We are exceptionally proud of our behavioral health, total joint replacement, and pediatric care facilitation teams for their work developing these models and demonstrating our commitment to providing compassionate quality care for their patients each day,” said Steven Strongwater, MD, President and CEO of Atrius Health. “Our sincerest thanks to the Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association for this honor. We are truly grateful to be recognized by our peers for this work.”
Atrius Health’s initiative was selected from nearly 60 submissions MHA received from hospitals, physician groups, home health agencies and other care providers from across the Commonwealth. Independent judges reviewed the entries and selected finalists and a first place award in each of the following six categories: Reducing Hospital-Acquired Conditions and Readmissions; Improving Organizational Efficiencies; Enhancing Culture and Leadership; Providing Care to Special Populations; Improvements Across the Continuum of Care; and Physician Practice Innovations.
“Along with the rest of our country, we cannot predict what the future of the healthcare reform in general and the Affordable Care Act in particular will be, but MHA’s member facilities and their amazing employees are on the front lines every day, providing some of the best healthcare in the world,” said MHA’s President & CEO Lynn Nicholas, FACHE, who conceived the idea for awards. “The Compass Awards competition encourages members to detail their best and most creative patient care and quality improvement efforts, to both inform the public and share best practices among their peers and colleagues. It appropriately highlights the fundamental mission of providers – exhibiting excellence in caring for patients, families and communities.”
Click here for a full list of first place awardees and finalists.