To:
From:
RE:
Date:
State of Maine Primary Care Practices
Pathways to Excellence (PTE) Program, Maine Health Management Coalition (MHMC)
Response Requested (to Participate in Integrated Behavioral Healthcare Quality Public Reporting Initiative in
Maine)
July 2015
Dear Practice Leadership,
We are writing to let you know of an exciting opportunity to be involved in public reporting related to integrated
behavioral healthcare. This new initiative is intended to recognize practices that have expanded their primary care
toolkit by adding specialty behavioral health services to the resources available for their patients.
Public Reporting Beginning January of 2016
We are writing to you to request your participation in our voluntary public reporting.
Due to the lack of sufficient evidence to suggest that one style of integration is more effective than another, a rating
of “Good”, “Better”, or “Best” will not be assigned during this reporting process.
This information will be posted on the GetBetterMaine website (www.GetBetterMaine.org) in January of 2016.
Here are the following steps to participate:
 Review the description of the ““Definitions of Integration” that both the PTE Clinicians and PTE Behavioral
Health Steering Committees have endorsed.
 Using the “Definitions of integration” as a reference, please complete the enclosed Pathways to Excellence
Integrated Behavioral Health Submission/Attestation form and fax/email to us by December 4, 2015. OR, please
find the Pathways to Excellence Integrated Behavioral Health Submission/Attestation form at
http://www.mehmc.org/providers/pte-resources/download-pte-materials-2/
o If you are attesting to coordinated services, please enclose a copy of your written agreement with
your attestation form. Enclosure of a copy of your written agreement (along with your attestation
form) is optional. We are requesting copies of written agreements to better understand the
arrangements that may exist between physical health and behavioral health providers, as well as to
help those who are interested in developing these relationships to understand what types of
arrangements exist.
o If you are attesting to co-located services, these services must be offered in the same physical location
as your practice (i.e., building).
 You may complete a hard copy of the attestation form and fax (fax: 207-844-8115) or scan it, along with
required documentation if applicable to: PTE@mehmc.org or complete the attestation form on-line (at
http://www.mehmc.org/providers/pte-resources/download-pte-materials-2/) and attach it along with required
documentation if applicable in an e-mail to: PTE@mehmc.org.
If we receive the attached attestation form with complete information by December 4, 2015, your practice site will
be publically reported beginning in 2016 designating your integration of behavioral health services. The
GetBetterMaine website will clearly and specifically indicate what kind of behavioral health integration you offer at
your practice. The type of behavioral health integration that applies to your practice will be published for a two-year
period. At the end of this period, it is expected that your practice will update the PTE Program on what type of
behavioral health integration your practice is currently offering. If your integration status changes during this twoyear period, you may re-send the attestation form anytime indicating the change of integration status and the
results will be updated at least quarterly.
To increase collaboration, a Crossover Subcommittee, made up of members from the PTE Clinician’s and PTE
Behavioral Health Steering Committees was formed in January of this year. This committee has been tasked with
developing a reporting process for primary care integrated behavioral health.
Participants in the Pathways to Excellence, Crossover Subcommittee:
 Lee M. Averill, MHA, L-ATC, Practice Transformation Coach, Central Maine Healthcare
 Jodi Beck, Director of Clinical Integration for Kennebec Region Health Alliance
 Becky Hayes Boober, Ph.D., Senior Program Officer, Maine Health Access Foundation
 Linda S. Butler, Ph.D., LCSW, Director of Research & Special Projects, Spurwink Services
 Anne Conners, Program Director, Behavioral Health Homes Learning Collaborative, Maine Quality Counts
 Donna Gartland, Clinical Quality Program Manager at Martin's Point Health Care
 Laura Kass, LCSW, Director of Behavioral Health, Mercy Hospital
 Neil Korsen, MD,MSc, Consultant to PTE Behavioral Health Steering Committee
 Jessica Moulton, Director of Primary Care, St. Mary’s Hospital
 Audrey Pratt, Office of MaineCare Services
 Melania Turgelsky, Vice President of Quality and Performance Improvement at Maine Behavioral Healthcare
State Innovation Model (SIM) Award and the Maine Health Management Coalition (MHMC)
The Maine Health Management Coalition (MHMC) has been publishing data on the quality of healthcare online for
nearly a decade through its Pathways to Excellence (PTE) Program. We believe that this transparency has contributed to
improving the quality of healthcare delivered in our state. Five years ago employers began using the information on our
website, www.GetBetterMaine.org. Since then, Maine has experienced and maintained the largest one year jump in
quality improvement from 12th to 4th in the nation for overall healthcare quality according to the Agency for Healthcare
Research and Quality.
The PTE Program currently publicly reports healthcare quality information on hospitals and ambulatory primary care
practices in the state of Maine. Through funding from the SIM award, the MHMC’s PTE Program has launched a new
public reporting initiative focused on behavioral healthcare services. Starting in March of 2014, a PTE Behavioral Health
(BH) Steering Committee was formed. This committee includes behavioral healthcare providers, health systems,
consumers, employers, and health plans from across the state. This committee had been meeting monthly in 2014 and
currently meets every other month. The completed initial goal was to publicly report measures on outpatient behavioral
healthcare (mental health and substance abuse) sites and practices to be listed on the Get Better Maine website in
January of 2015. The Committee is now working to expand these measures.
If there are any questions at all on reporting, please contact us at PTE@mehmc.org. In the spirit of continuous
improvement, we welcome your feedback and will work to incorporate it into this process as we move forward.
This work is made possible with funding from the Maine State Innovation Model Initiative