Rutgers University, in conjunction with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and AcademyHealth, has developed a resource guide focused on how state agencies and policymakers can implement a state-level quality improvement collaborative that addresses a specific clinical concern, such as various mental health conditions that affect the Medicaid population.
This resource guide, "Implementing a State-level Quality Improvement Collaborative," was developed through lessons learned by the Medicaid Network for Evidence-based Treatment (MEDNET), a three-year, multi-state consortium focused on increasing the utilization of evidence-based clinical and delivery system practices in the provision of mental health treatment for Medicaid beneficiaries. Specifically, the six participating states — California, Maine, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, and Washington — each implemented a quality improvement collaborative within their states that sought to accelerate the adoption of evidence-based practices (EBPs) to improve mental health outcomes. MEDNET provided assistance to the state collaboratives and evaluated the strategies they used to increase the implementation of two types of comparative effectiveness findings in Medicaid mental health:
- Effective and safe clinical practices related to pharmacological and psychosocial mental health treatment; and
- Effective state policies, strategies, and organizational practices related to management of those treatments.
With the announcement of $665 million budgeted in President Barack Obama’s proposed budget for a new, five-year program intended to reduce the over-prescription of psychotropic medications to children in the foster care system, this resource guide is a relevant resource for those who seek to address these issues.
