HealthAlliance Hospital in Leominster will implement a new program designed to improve behavioral health care while reducing preventable used of emergency department care in North Central Massachusetts.
The hospital’s Community Hospital Acceleration, Revitalization, and Transformation (CHART) Investment Program, that was announced Monday, is a four-year community hospital public-private partnership with the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission (HPC).
HealthAlliance Hospital, part of UMass Memorial Health Care, has committed nearly $6 million to a program aimed at reducing 30-day emergency department revisits by 15 percent for all patients with behavioral health conditions, while reducing emergency department boarding by more than 30 percent.
To meet these goals, HealthAlliance will develop reengineered emergency department workflows, including expedited medical clearance and behavioral health navigation. Services will range from better care coordination, follow-up appointment scheduling and discharge planning, to extensive treatment plan development and coordination with multiple agencies.
Ultimately, these practices could be scaled up to encompass the entire state, according to HPC.
