The Best at Getting Better
The Strength of HealthVine's Programs
As an accountable care organization, HealthVine is held to the highest performance and operational excellence standards. Identifying opportunities for continuous improvement within each HealthVine program and inspiring team collaboration is paramount to achieving and sustaining HealthVine’s operations that help improve the health outcomes for youth and families in Southwest Ohio.
Enhancing Quality for Care Management and Utilization Management
HealthVine’s Care Management and Utilization Management teams both received official accreditation from the National Center for Quality Assurance (NCQA). Notably, HealthVine is the first pediatric accountable care organization in Ohio to receive NCQA accreditation for care management. The NCQA plays a crucial role in assessing and enhancing healthcare quality. The accreditation process involves a thorough survey examining the program, policies and processes to ensure our teams operate efficiently and that we see continual improvement in healthcare quality. Our Care Management and Utilization Management teams make a substantial impact on HealthVine members, as highlighted in the numbers below, which showcase high-level data as of Dec. 2023.
Care Management by the Numbers
Member Outreaches
Health Risk Assessments (HRAs)
Members enrolled in Care Management
Utilization Management by the Numbers
Cases reviewed in 2022
Cases reviewed in 2023
Turn-Around Time Compliance*
*Turn-Around Time Compliance is a crucial metric that refers to how quickly we review and respond to authorization requests.
HealthVine OhioRISE Experiences Early Success
Since launching operations in July 2022, the HealthVine OhioRISE program has already achieved remarkable success. Initiatives implemented by the HealthVine OhioRISE team and the program’s special emphasis on staff retention efforts—a current challenge facing behavioral health organizations—have helped to create a foundation for a strong program and enabled care coordinators to develop lasting relationships with members. These efforts have contributed to a current engagement rate of 90%, which represents the percentage of our OhioRISE members actively engaged in care coordination.
Collaboration to Inspire Better Outcomes
HealthVine has experienced substantial growth since its inception. In light of this rapid expansion, the organization focuses on fostering collaboration to enhance the overall experience for members. Examples of collaboration include:
- The Care Management and Quality Improvement teams regularly collaborate to identify members with clinical care gaps and reach out to connect them with medical and social resources.
- The OhioRISE, Care Management and Utilization Management teams have established an effective line of communication to ensure the needs of members are being met appropriately.
- The Community Engagement and Care Management teams have partnered to bolster HealthVine’s presence at community events and forge relationships with members in the community.
This whole-team approach to collaboration strengthens team connections and maximizes HealthVine’s ability to make a positive impact on members and their families.
Growing the Branches of Population Health
The substantial growth of several HealthVine programs has led to the expansion of these programs into broader Cincinnati Children’s Office of Population Health endeavors:
Pediatric Improvement Network for Quality (PINQ)
CY22 saw the expansion of the Pediatric Improvement Network for Quality (PINQ), overseen by the Population Health Research & Innovation Team. The regional learning network has grown to include additional participating organizations in the tri-state area (Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana) and the operationalization of a program arm dedicated to supporting local behavioral health organizations with quality improvement initiatives. Read more about the network here.
HealthVine Spotlight: PINQ
Two of our HealthVine partners participating in the PINQ Primary Care Mental Health cohort significantly improved 30-day follow-up rates after a positive depression screening. As part of the network, the teams agreed to test a shared intervention that assigned a staff member to follow up with patients. As a result of this intervention, the entire network improved follow-up rates from 40% to 49%.
Integrated Behavioral Health (IBH)
Formerly known as the HealthVine Behavioral Health program, the Population Behavioral Health team has expanded behavioral health programs to include all youth across the region, regardless of insurance payor. This has led to the expansion of Integrated Behavioral Health (IBH) providers in primary care practices throughout the region, with a goal to increase access to critical behavioral health services and reduce system costs through early patient intervention. The program has now placed 15 IBH providers across 12 practices and has helped participating teams achieve financial sustainability.
HealthVine Spotlight: Integrated Behavioral Health
“Having IBH services available in our office has been one of the most positive changes that has occurred in the seven years I have worked at West Side Pediatrics. The mental health crisis is not letting up, and having the ability to get timely counseling, crisis management, diagnostic evaluations and coaching on coping strategies has been invaluable.”
Dr. Jennifer France, West Side Pediatrics (HealthVine Partner)
As population health programs continue to grow, the Office of Population Health looks forward to sharing updates on how these initiatives are improving population health for youth in the communities we serve.