The Blueprint supports Patient Centered Medical Homes and Community Health Teams to promote care coordination, panel management, and integrated care for mental health and substance use disorders. Patient Centered Medical Homes supported by Community Health Teams are also intended to support people who need additional resources to address health-related social needs such as case management, housing, economic services, food insecurity, transportation, and long-term placement.
The Community Health Team Expansion Pilot Program will be expanding Community Health Teams' capacity to provide co-occurring mental health and substance use screening, brief intervention, treatment, and navigation to and coordination of services. Henceforth, the Community Health Team Expansion Pilot Program will be referred to as "Expansion Pilot", "CHT Expansion", or simply "Expansion." Currently, the Expansion Pilot is scheduled to run for 2 Years, approved for implementation in 2023, to run through 2024.
Please reference the Blueprint glossary of key terms for ease of understanding of frequently used acronyms in discussion of the Expansion.
The full report on the proposal in accordance with ACT 167 is available to read here. There is evidence to support the proposal, as well as key stakeholder feedback based on stakeholder outreach.
A Frequently Asked Questions document about the Expansion is available here. In addition, an available recorded version of The Blueprint's presentation to the Committee on House Health Care on February 15th 2023, and support from three Vermont physicians on February 17.
CHT Expansion - Work Groups and Development
The Blueprint for Health’s CHT Expansion Pilot Work Groups were created with the intention of working collaboratively to discuss design, implementation, measurement, and payment management of the Pilot in accordance with each branch of the approved proposal in response to ACT 167. They met frequently from March 2023 to June 2023 under the titles of Program Design, Measurement & Evaluation, and Payment. They will continue to meet from February 2024 to April 2024 to discuss progress and implementation of Year 2 of the Expansion.
Listed below are the Goals and Deliverables of each Work Group, as well as PDF copies of all presentations and minutes given on their respective meeting dates.
Program Design
Goals:
- Articulate program goals and objectives
- Define integration model(s)
- Identify target populations
- Refine CHT Plan Guidance
- Identify CHT Staffing Requirements
- Address scope of work
- Identify education, licensing, and clinical supervision requirements
- Define standardized practices
- Identify screening/risk identification strategies
- Identify assessment and intervention strategies
- Define referral workflows and care coordination
- Define implementation support inputs
- Address training needs
- Identify tools and report access
- Implement continuous quality improvement support
Deliverables:
Model Description, which includes:
- Program objectives and goals
- Staffing criteria
- Screening and assessment criteria
- Integration best practices
- Care coordination and referral pathway requirements
Implementation Support Documentation, which includes:
- Required tools and forms
- Standardized job descriptions
- Training Criteria
- Continuous quality improvement requirements
CHT Planning Guidance Documentation, which includes:
- Defined processes and steps for each Health Service Area Administrative Entity to provide a written plan pertaining to:
- Staffing plans
- Hiring entities
- Clinical supervision plans
- Practice integration strategy
Meetings:
2024
February 15, 2024: Presentation, Minutes
February 22, 2024: Presentation, Blueprint CHT Expansion Pilot Screening Tools, Minutes
2023
March 30th, 2023: Presentation, Minutes
April 13th, 2023: Presentation, Minutes
April 27th, 2023: Presentation, Minutes
May 11th, 2023: Presentation, Minutes
June 8th, 2023: Presentation, Minutes
June 22nd, 2023: Presentation, Minutes
Measurement and Evaluation
Goals:
- Define evaluation principles in alignment with program goals and objectives
- Identify indicators for monitoring and measurement
- Structural measures
- Process measures
- Outcome measures
- Outline evaluation methods and data collection processes
- Document evaluation plan
Deliverables:
Pilot Evaluation plan, which will include:
- Background/Evaluation Purpose/Scope
- Logic Model or Theory of Change
- Program Goals and Objectives
- Assumptions
- Evaluation Questions
- Data Collection Plan (Sources, Methods, Timing, Responsibility)
- Stakeholder Matrix
- Data Sources/Evaluation Question Matrix
- Ethical Considerations
- Reporting Products
- Communication Plan
- Timelines
Meetings:
2024
February 21, 2024: Minutes, Presentation
March 6th, 2024: Minutes
March 13th, 2024: Minutes, Presentation
2023
March 22nd, 2023: Presentation, Minutes
April 4th, 2023: Presentation, Minutes
April 19th, 2023: Presentation, Minutes
May 17th, 2023: Presentation, Minutes
May 31st, 2023: Presentation, Minutes
June 14th, 2023: Presentation, Minutes
June 28th, 2023: Presentation, Minutes
Payment
Goals:
- Determine payment methodology
- Attributions
- Define reporting and accountability criteria
- Program requirements
- Hiring/Staffing
- Vacancy management
- Establish systems for Tracking and Accounting
- Pilot CHT fund use tracking
- Overall CHT fund use tracking
- Update payment administration protocols
- Timelines
- Documentation & manual revisions
Deliverables:
Pilot Payment Documentation, which will include:
- Payment Calculation Methodology Summary
- Attribution
- Payment amounts
- Payment Procedures
- Criteria for initiation of payment
- Timelines
- Procedures for lapses in meeting program requirements
- Discontinuation of payments
- Blueprint Portal Requirements
Meetings:
April 26th, 2023: Presentation, Minutes
May 24th, 2023: Presentation, Minutes
June 28, 2023: Presentation, Minutes