NNEDLearn 2014 Participant: Mental Health Providers of Western Queens
Description: The Critical Case Tracking Committee (CCTC) is a multi-level reporting and tracking system designed to identify at-risk and high need recipients and to provide guidance and support in their treatment and care. Specific CCTC functions include:
- Provide clinical consultations and suggest relevant therapeutic interventions to psychotherapists and supervisors
- Coordinate care with the agency’s psychiatric staff, care coordination services, and substance abuse services
- Coordinate special service interventions such as AOT, EMS, and ACT
- Arrange preventive services and school-based services
- Review client’s safety and/or “Wrap” plan
- Engage patient support systems such as family or other caregivers
Population of focus:
- Severely and persistently mentally ill adults and severely emotionally disturbed children
- Individuals with high rate of hospitalization and ER usage
- Forensic population and dually diagnosed population
- Individuals with a history of poor adherence to prescribed medication
- Individuals identified to be at-risk via clinical assessment (suicide risk, violence risk, history of public incidents)
Setting: Hospital, mental health clinic
Level of focus: Individual
Background: Licensure and recertification by NY State’s Office of Mental Health (OMH) requires that an agency develop internal systems for tracking high-risk cases. OMH has implemented this policy based on the following factors:
- Under-utilization of mental health services, such as clinic treatment, care coordination, and crisis intervention by at-risk individuals
- This lack of engagement in preventive care is a barrier to recovery and increases the likelihood of hospitalization and ER usage
- Tragic and highly publicized incidents have focused public attention on the need for improved crisis intervention and engagement efforts by the mental health system (Kendra’s Law/AOT)
Results: NY State auditors have recognized and commended the MHPWQ Critical Case Tracking Committee:
- Reduced rate of hospitalization and ER usage
- Reduced frequency of decompensation and public incidents
- Increased utilization of preventive and crisis intervention services
- Increased integration of clinic treatment (psychotherapy and medication management) with care coordination services
Contact:
John Lavin, LCSW-R
Email: jlavin@mhpwq.org
Mental Health Providers of Western Queens, Inc.
http://mhpwq.org