DATE: January 21, 2020
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: Dawan Utecht, Director, Department of Behavioral Health
SUBJECT: Behavioral Health Salary Resolution Amendment
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
Approve Amendment to the Salary Resolution adding 20 positions and removing 1 position to the Department of Behavioral Health Org 5630, effective January 27, 2020 as reflected in Appendix C.
REPORT
Approval of the recommended action will allow the Department to add 20 positions and eliminate one (1) vacant position to the Department’s salary resolution. These positions will support Administrative Operations to support the Department with additional Substance Use Disorder contracting and network adequacy requirements.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
Your Board may choose not to approve the recommended action, which would result in no change to the Department’s Salary Resolution.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no increase in Net County Cost (NCC) associated with the recommended action. The estimated cost for FY 2019-20 is approximately $875,319, with no additional NCC. These expenditures will be funded with current year available salary savings through a combination of Medi-Cal Federal Financial Participation (FFP), Medi-Cal Administrative Activity (MAA), Mental Health Services Act (MHSA), and realignment.
DISCUSSION:
The Department has recently implemented the Drug Medical Waiver/DMC and expanded the use of Avatar/electronic health records (EHR) to substance abuse providers in support of the DMC Waiver. The DMC Waiver started on January 1, 2019 and requires additional tracking and functionalities such as Intake, Initial service tracking, treatment perception survey, ASAM screening, ASAM level of care tracking. These new tracking and functionalities require additional Business Systems Analyst staff. The Department is transitioning into the next phase of the implementation and expanding to the electronic health records. In the preparation for this phase, it is necessary to add this position to implement the new functionalities and forms in the Avatar/electronic health records. Additionally, the Department will also expand to a full use of EHR. There are mandatory reporting’s and newly required DMC Waiver performance measures. It is necessary to add this position in order to support and carry out the new and necessary tasks. The first external quality review is scheduled in early 2020.
The DMC Waiver implementation has increased the workload significantly for the following Divisions within the Department: Managed Care, Quality Improvement and Contracts - Substance Use Disorder. Staff Analysts (7), Program Technician (1), Office Assistants (3), Business System Analyst (2), Utilization Review Specialist (2), Substance Abuse Specialist (-1), Senior Substance Abuse Specialist (1), Peer Support Specialist (1) and Mental Health Clinician (3) additions will be providing staffing support for Managed Care, Quality Improvement and Contracts-Substance Abuse Disorders teams.
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE:
Salary Resolution Amendment - Appendix “C”
CAO ANALYST:
Ron Alexander