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Blueprint expansion adds 102 community health team staff; screenings, visits and access rose, officials say
Summary
Blueprint for Health staff told senators a two‑year expansion pilot increased community health team capacity statewide, raised screening rates (91% to 98.5%), and added 102 hires (62.8 FTE); the pilot funds behavioral health, substance‑use and social‑needs work and includes a DULCE infant‑family program.
John Saroyan, executive director of Blueprint for Health, and Adi Armstrong, health services researcher, briefed the Senate Health and Welfare Committee on Jan. 22 about a 2023 expansion that added community health team capacity inside primary care practices across Vermont.
The expansion is a two‑year pilot (funding began in August 2023) that places additional community health team (CHT) staff in participating primary care practices and builds training, quality‑improvement support and a small DULCE infant‑family program. "Community health teams provide care coordination and links with patient services at no additional charge to the patient," Saroyan said.
Why it matters: Blueprint officials said the expansion targets mental health, substance use and social drivers of health (transportation, housing and finances) by embedding care coordinators, community health workers and licensed behavioral health counselors directly in primary care. The committee heard that both access and intensity of CHT services increased after the expansion.
Key findings and numbers shared with the committee - Participation and hiring: About 93% of Blueprint practices opted into the expansion; 102 individuals were hired across practices, equal to about 62.8 full‑time equivalent positions. Community health worker full‑time equivalents rose from about 7 to 46.
- Patient reach and intensity: Quarterly CHT patient counts increased from roughly 20,000 before the expansion to roughly 26,000 after it began; the average number of CHT interactions per patient rose from about 2.9 in 2023 to about 3.9 in 2024.
- Screening and service delivery: A chart review reported that adult screening for substance use, mental health and social drivers rose from about 91% in 2023 to about 98.5% in the 2024 review; most individual domains showed statistically significant increases. The Blueprint reported increases in brief therapy, group therapy and connections to community resources for financial needs.
- Targeted programs and training: The expansion funded six family specialists (DULCE) to work with infants and families, new continuing‑education series on behavioral health topics (in partnership with the Center for Technology and Behavioral Health at Dartmouth), motivational interviewing training, and quality improvement facilitation for practices.
Evaluation and next steps: The Blueprint said qualitative interviews were collected by Market Decisions Research and quantitative Medicaid claims analysis will be completed by MedicaSoft; staff said the Medicaid claims comparison for patients at expansion practices should be ready in spring 2025. Blueprint staff asked the committee to note that the pilot funding ends on June 30 and that continued evaluation and possible long‑term funding decisions will follow.
Quotes and evidence from the testimony: Market Decisions Research interviews submitted to the committee included comments such as, "Community health team has been a lifesaver for us." Adi Armstrong presented the statistical results, noting the increase in screening rates and the rise in patients seen and visits per patient.
Ending: Senators thanked Blueprint staff for the overview and said the expansion's early results will inform upcoming health‑care reform work and budget decisions.
