CENTRAL OHIO MENTAL HEALTH CENTER
Administrative Procedure
Subject:
Program Access and Waiting List Management
Section:
04.01.01.01
Effective Date: 10/16/2009
Approved by: ______________________________
Mark Travis, Executive Director
PURPOSE:
To identify the populations served, establish the expectations for access to
mental health and alcohol and drug addiction (AoD) services requested of
Central Ohio Mental Health Center, and have a process for managing a waiting
list, when necessary, to manage scarce resources.
PROCEDURE:
I.
Populations Served
A.
Central Ohio Mental Health Center serves children, adolescents and adults, both
male and female, who are experiencing behavioral health issues (mental health
and substance abuse) and who meet the admission criteria for each Center
program.
B.
The primary target population consists of Delaware and Morrow county citizens
although others will be treated on a staff and financial availability basis.
C.
Priority populations, identified by the Center’s Board of Directors as having
priority over other clients seeking services, will be served first when resources
are scarce and all potential clients cannot be served within existing resources.
Currently the priority populations have been identified as:
D.
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1)
Any person who presents in a crisis needing an emergency or urgent
behavioral health assessment within Delaware of Morrow counties to
ensure the person’s safety and well being;
2)
Adult clients who are Delaware or Morrow county residents and are
identified as Severely Mentally Ill; and
3)
Children who are Delaware and Morrow county residents and are
identified as Emotionally Handicapped.
In an effort to be as clinically and culturally competent as possible, the Center
has developed within the staff clinical expertise to treat specialty populations in
addition to those priority populations identified above. Some of these specialty
populations and treatments include:
1)
Domestic Violence Offender treatment
2)
Dialectical Behavioral Training (DBT) for those clients with a diagnosis of
Borderline Personality Disorder
3)
Assertive Community Treatment for the Severely Mentally Ill population
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4)
Delaware and Morrow county residents who are part of the SAMI
population requiring both mental health and substance abuse treatment
5)
Older adult population
II.
Each Center program shall establish admission/re-admission, continued stay, and
discharge criteria, which are described in the Center’s Plan for Professional Services.
III.
The Center strives to provide timely access to behavioral health services and
establishes the following guidelines to access available and medically necessary
services;
IV.
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A.
Persons experiencing a crisis and in need of access to emergency behavioral
health assessments will seen within one hour of requesting services;
B.
Persons identified with urgent behavioral health needs will be able to access a
behavioral health assessment within 3 calendar days of request;
C.
Persons requesting routine behavioral health services will be able to access a
behavioral health assessment with 14 calendar days of request;
D.
Persons referred for treatment services at the Center will be offered an initial
appointment with the on-going service provider within 14 days of referral;
E.
Persons referred for pharmacological services will be offered an initial
appointment with a psychiatric within 30 days of referral
F.
Person discharged from psychiatric hospitalization will be seen by a clinician
within 5 calendar days of discharge, if receiving services at the Center prior to
the hospitalization if new to the Center.
Waiting List Management: It is inevitable that there will be a waiting list at different
times for admission to outpatient services at the Center; however, the Center will make
it a priority to get a client into treatment as soon as possible.
A.
The Site Director, Medical Director, or Program Director may establish a waiting
list for services when access to services is beyond the established guidelines for
accessing outpatient services as described above.
B.
If it is determined at any point during the Referral process, that the client needs
treatment immediately, the clinician will assist the client with accessing
emergency and urgent behavioral health services as described above.
C.
Even if there is not a crisis or emergency situation, the clinician will ask the client
is he/she desires to continue to wait or to enter treatment at another
organization. Clients will be offered a referral to another treatment provider if
desiring to enter treatment immediately.
D.
Clients choosing to wait will be placed on a waiting list for outpatient services.
1)
Each client on the waiting list for routine outpatient services will be
assigned a priority level based on their presenting clinical needs as
defined in the Center’s Clinical Priority Guidelines (See Attachment A).
2)
Clients will be informed that they may contact the Triage Specialist at any
time if experiencing a change is symptoms, would prefer a referral to
another treatment provider, or any other circumstances change.
3)
Clients will be given resources such as location of NAMI, Consumer
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Outreach Centers, AA meetings, etc., to utilize while they wait for an
admission date.
4)
The Triage Specialist is responsible for monitoring and managing the
waiting list. The waiting list will be updated at least every 14 days. The
Triage Specialist shall remain in contact with the client and/or family,
referral sources, and other professionals, with appropriate written
authorization, on a routine basis while the client is awaiting admission to
a program.
5)
When treatment services becomes available, clients will be offered
admission to outpatient services based on the Center’s clinical priority
system, the client’s payer source, and the date of referral for the waiting
list.
6)
Clients will be removed from the waiting list upon admission to the
program, when a client is no longer interested in the service, when a
client is unable to be reached by telephone and has not responded to
written requests to schedule intake appointments with 14 days of notice
of service availability, and/or the referral source has indicated to remove
the client from the waiting list.
The following table summarizes the Center’s program access priorities:
V.
Priority
Population
Fund Source
Funding Limitation
1
Emergency
Any
Not Applicable
2
Urgent
Any
Not Applicable
3
SMI/SED
Any
Not Applicable
4
General
Population
3rd Party, Medicaid, Full Fee
No Limitation
5
General
Population
MACSIS, Subsidized,
DMMHRSB funded
Limited by available
amount in contract
Revised:
10/16/2009
09/09/2007
09/15/2005
03/25/2004
Approved:
10/16/2009
2/16/2016
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