April 19, 2021
Update On Our Timeline

As we mentioned in our last newsletter, the Department of Health Care Policy & Financing (the Department) is changing the implementation date of the Care and Case Management (CCM) system from the previously planned date of July 1, 2021. The Department is working with vendors to finalize an updated timeline, including a new go live date, and will share information through this newsletter and other channels when it is available. 

At this time, the following information is available.

Assessment and Person-Centered Support Plan Soft Launch
Beginning in July, the Department will conduct a soft launch of the new Assessment and Person-Centered Support Plan functionality in the Care and Case Management (CCM) system. During the soft launch, we hope to partner with Case Management Agencies and case managers who participated in the original pilot and time study. If time and resources allow, we will reach out to expand participation among interested agencies. 

We are excited to implement this soft launch as it allows us to begin gathering necessary data which will be used to development and implementation of the Person-Centered Budget Algorithm, complete a time study for the basic assessment to validate rates, develop robust training and provide the time needed to streamline the eligibility process in the systems before go live. 

More Details to Come
We appreciate the feedback from agencies and case managers who have shared their concerns and we anticipate the delay of go live will alleviate some pressure. We understand this project represents a significant change in daily work life for each of you and will continue to share updates as we have them. 

We remain committed to successful implementation of these changes in a thoughtful and collaborative manner in order to assure the impacts are minimized and the changes result in the intended outcomes of a more streamlined process and system, and an objective, comprehensive assessment and person-centered care planning. 
Thank you for Completing our Survey

Thank you to everyone who took the time to respond to either of our ADKAR (Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability and Reinforcement) survey requests. Your feedback is helpful as we implement the new CCM system, rollout training materials and continue to provide you with information about our progress. Below is some immediate information in response to common questions and concerns we have heard from case managers. 

Go Live Training 
We understand the importance of effective and multimodal training resources for case managers and have dedicated considerable resources to the planning, development and delivery of training. This information was first shared in our February CCM “Kick Off” meeting and a video recording is available to view.
 
The Department has partnered with the skilled staff at the Staff Development Center (SDC) to design and deliver training for the Assessment & Support Plan. Training will be provided to all case managers to ensure a consistent experience for case mangers across the state. Training for the Assessment & Support Plan will occur in a Learning Management System (LMS) and will entail:

  • Web-based, which can be completed at an individual’s own pace.
  • Instructor-led in a classroom-type setting with limited attendance capacity; due to the Public Health Emergency (PHE) these are planned to be Virtual Instructor-Led Trainings (VILT).
  • Competency-based skill evaluations to follow each training session.
  • Availability of desk aids and other reference materials.
  • A “sandbox” training platform where case managers can practice using the Assessment & Support Plan with mock data.

Training on the functionality and how to use the new CCM system will be provided by the vendor, Gainwell, to all case managers and will include instruction on system use such as entering/updating member demographics, log Notes, Critical Incident Reports, system navigation and other functionality such as online/offline use of the system uploading documents, assigning tasks and work queues

Training surveys will be available so case managers can provide feedback about their experiences. 

Soft Launch Training
Training for soft launch participants will be provided by the vendor, HCBS Strategies, specific to the assessment and person-centered support plan and CCM system functionality during the soft launch prior to commencing implementation. As we firm up our project timeline, we will have more information to share. 
Duplicate Client Cleanup in the Benefits Utilization System (BUS) 

In preparation for the implementation of the new CCM system, the BUS team has been working with the Governor’s Office of Information (OIT) to identify and merge the records of duplicate clients found in the BUS.

Over the last year, 420 duplicate client records have been identified and merged by the BUS team and OIT. The identification and merging of duplicate clients in the BUS is an essential part of the CCM client data migration plan and will play a big part in making the plan a success. If all duplicate clients are not identified and merged before the data migration, there is a genuine risk of case managers being unable to locate their clients in the CCM system.

Between now and the implementation of the CCM system, the Department requests all Case Management Agencies take extra care when entering new clients in the BUS. The BUS does not have sophisticated logic for preventing duplicate clients. Please always remember to search for clients using all available methods before creating a new client in the BUS.

Below are ways to search for a client in the BUS to ensure you are not creating a duplicate, as well as other tips to avoid creating duplicate clients.

Searching for clients in the BUS to avoid the creation of duplicate clients
  • State ID – Most clients in the BUS with Open Statuses have State IDs. Newer clients may not have one.
  • Last Name – If the client’s name is hyphenated, try using only one of the names. They might have an older record that needs to be updated.
  • Social Security Number (SSN) – Please verify the client’s SSN. The majority of duplicates are created because the SSN has a mistake. Clients are sometimes entered in the BUS with the placeholder SSN of 111-11-1111, so this should not be the only search performed before adding a client.
  • Date of Birth – If one or two of the other methods are not available to check, this is a good way to make sure the client doesn’t already exist in the BUS.

Other tips to avoid creating duplicate clients in the BUS
  • Remove the checkmark in the Limit to Agency box. This will allow the BUS to search all clients in the BUS regardless of the agency the client is associated with.
  • Use a combination search if the last name is common. If the last name is Smith, try searching with Smith and the Date of Birth.
  • When searching for a client you can search by any method individually, or in combination.  

Should you have any questions about locating or merging duplicate clients in the BUS please contact Rhonda Johnson.
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