Sustaining Healthcare Across Integrated Primary Care Efforts (SHAPE)

Program Location: 
Denver, CO
Number of Practices: 
6
Payer Type: 
Other
Partner Organizations: 
Collaborative Family Healthcare Association (CFHA)
Rocky Mountain Health Plans (RMHP)
UC Denver Department of Family Medicine
Colorado Health Foundation
Payers: 
Rocky Mountain Health Plans

Reported Outcomes

Description: 

SHAPE is a 3-year project that aims to examine the effect of paying for the integration of behavioral health and primary care through a global payment. Actuarial modeling will study its sustainability and benefit to the practice and community.  In determining the payment to integrated providers, the following factors will be considered:

  • Cost: The total cost of compensation to the behavioral health providers, related clinical and population interventions must be taken into account. Failure to cover the cost of personnel and services will undermine integration and/or trigger a reversion to FFS "revenue generation".
  • Panel Size: A larger practice panel may require more integrated services and patient supports. Under resourced practices will make a smaller impact upon population health and total cost -- even if interventions are prioritized appropriately.
  • Panel Complexity: Patients with greater needs require greater support. Payments should be 'risk adjusted' to afford the time and focus to serve patients with complex conditions and circumstances -- before, during and after patient encounters. Risk adjustment and panel stratification functions must enable the practice to systemically predict, prioritize and prevent.
  • Program Design and Alignment: Payments should be contingent upon measured adherence to evidence and best practices, and alignment with identified needs and gaps in the entire patient panel.
Payment Model: 

Practices will be paid a global payment to cover behavioral health care services.  For this program, the global payment model includes:

  • Risk adjusted prospective payment for defined period;
  • Shared risk and accountability in budget, and quality targets between practices and payer; and
  • Incentive opportunity for quality improvement in patient health outcomes.
Cost Savings: 

practices that received global payments from RMHP for integrated care showed a 4.8 percent lower total cost of care for attributed patients, in a normalized comparison with a control group

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