“Excited” was the word that best described the reaction of partners invited to MHVC’s inaugural Communities of Care (CoC) forums, according to Marlene Ripa, MHVC’s Director of Network Design and Administration. “MHVC developed the CoC as an ‘umbrella’ for activities around provider engagement and performance improvement involving organizations within the same region,” said Ripa. “Our focus on regional continuums of care will support our partners with localized data and technical assistance. It was gratifying to hear from our partners, ‘yes, that’s what we want!’”

Ripa explained the genesis of the CoC. “The first few years of DSRIP focused on developing clinical standards and roles for projects,” she said. “Now we can focus on network standards as they are applied at a regional level, tailored to community needs.” MHVC started with Rockland and Orange Counties because of the ability to build on the extensive collaboration and partnerships crafted through MHVCs Innovation Fund, and intends to spread this work to other regions.

The two regional half-day sessions were held on May 4 in Rockland County at Montefiore Nyack Hospital, and on May 11 in Orange County at Montefiore St. Luke’s Cornwall Hospital in Newburgh. Upwards of 20 organizations were represented at each forum. The CoC is a structure to facilitate multi-disciplinary engagement to impact the health of the community, and to advance collective MHVC- and value-based-payment (VBP) performance. “In the short term, CoC forums will be focused on identifying tactical opportunities to identify and address gaps to improve our final performance period,” said Ripa. “At the same time, we realize the immense value of having the right people in the room to begin to identify the need for larger systemic changes that will take much longer to implement.” The forums provide a unique opportunity to utilize a combination of qualitative (claims data) and real, live experience of multi-disciplinary partner organizations (both clinical and social service) to identify opportunities and co-develop solutions.

During each regional meeting, county-specific performance data were shown, followed by discussions on how to improve the numbers. “We are looking forward to sharing some initial partner feedback from each of these meetings,” said Ripa. “We received very thoughtful comments on specific gaps partners have identified and opportunities for improvement.” MHVC will design and propose Initiatives based on the input received at the forums and at future venues.

A future newsletter will have full coverage of each of the two meetings, including partner interviews, next steps, takeaways — and pictures. And stay tuned for more information on the Westchester CoC coming soon! MHVC is looking forward to sharing this journey with the entire network. Join us!