Promoting Patient Centered Care: Grant Funding

Ongoing or Previous Grant Funding

Integration Initiative
MeHAF grant funding to advance the Integration Initiative began in 2007.  During three rounds of funding, MeHAF provided 43 grants that support over 100 sites that are implementing integrated behavioral health and primary care, working with 150 collaborative partners across Maine.  We have supported a range of activities from improving direct client services to guiding regional or state-wide efforts that create better ways to organize, deliver and pay for care.  Grant sites include hospitals, community health centers, mental health agencies, nursing homes, school-based health clinics, state government-run clinics, and peer-run mental health advocacy and support organizations.   As part of our technical assistance to the funded projects, MeHAF facilitates quarterly learning community meetings, where national and local speakers share the latest research and evidence-based practice with grant recipients. MeHAF has also initiated a social networking community and a resource center that provides virtual and tangible materials, research, and tools for our grant recipients and others. 

If you are interested in implementing integrated behavioral health and primary care, contact Becky Hayes Boober to be included in the Integrated Care Learning Community activities.  bhboober@mehaf.org or (207) 620-8266 x114

Integrated Care Training Academy
In 2011 MeHAF established an Integrated Care Training Academy to support organizations that are working to integrate behavioral health and primary care services.  These $5,000 grants support local experts who provide technical assistance to clinical sites working on integrated care.  Other grants support broader activities, such as framing policy changes or conducting research.  MeHAF awarded six Integrated Care Training Academy grants in 2011:

Technical Assistance grants:

  • Tri-County Mental Health Services will provide one-day training, ongoing coaching, and an implementation manual and toolkit to organizations interested in replicating their model of contracting with primary care practices to embed community mental health agency staff in the practice.
  • Spring Harbor provides general consultations and training for any site interested in starting new integrated care programs or in expanding or sustaining current projects.
  • NAMI Maine works with practices to assess their level of patient-centered care and engagement and to develop a work plan to improve patient centeredness.
  • The Muskie School of Public Service, working with Maine Centers for Disease Control, is developing public, web-based tools to assess wellness and is incorporating integrated care into public health programs.

Policy Development grants:

  • Mercy Hospital will build a business case and plan to support a model for Patient/Peer Care Navigators in integrated care and will create dissemination tools especially for hospital-based networks.
  • Rosscare will create a financial impact study and sustainability plan for improving care for seniors in nursing homes and other long-term settings using integrated care.

To recieve technical assistance from Academy partners, contact Becky Hayes Boober at bhboober@mehaf.org or (207) 620-8266 x114. 

Policy Support
Identifying, codifying and sharing best practices in an emerging field such as integrated care is a challenge.  To help move the field forward, MeHAF established a statewide Integration Policy Committee to guide policy activities and strategies to sustain integrated behavioral health and primary care. In 2010, the committee refined the definition (link) of critical elements of integrated behavioral health and primary care in Maine and drafted a detailed work plan to advocate for policies that support integrated care; we are now working to implement that plan.  For example, we know that reimbursement and licensing for integrated care are specific challenges to integrated care providers.  MeHAF has developed training materials for grantees, provides a consultant for coaching to address these issues and hosts quarterly meetings with payers to facilitate integrated care.   

Evaluation
MeHAF is committed to rigorously evaluating the impact of our work to integrate behavioral and primary care using a variety of metrics and tools:

Cross-site Evaluation: John Snow, Inc., is conducting a cross-site study of the initiative, emphasizing participant health outcomes, patient/family engagement, and data on operational and systemic supports needed for successful implementation.  Among other documents, they produce annual reports on the evaluation: 

Maine State-level Evaluation:  A state-level evaluation is underway which will determine the impact of the initiative on health care. 

Maine Barriers to Integration Study is a MeHAF-funded baseline examination of the structural, reimbursement, organizational practice, and professional cultural barriers to and opportunities for integration conducted by the University of Southern Maine.

Key Informant Interview: In 2010, MeHAF assessed the perceptions of non-grantee representatives of key sectors which impact integrated behavioral health and primary care. This interview process will be repeated in three years to see if more people are aware of the importance of integrated care.