Health department shifts to new EMR, secures $138,000 OMH funding for mobile crisis team

Cayuga County Health and Human Services staff told the committee that the health department has completed a migration to a new electronic medical-records (EMR) system and is still working through billing integration and staffing implications.

Lauren Wolf said the county transitioned to the new EMR recently and that some billing tasks are being outsourced through the EMR vendor while the department finalizes responsibilities between the vendor and the remaining county billing employee. The department currently has one billing specialist in place; staff said the position holder is expected to graduate with an MSW in July and the department is planning any further hiring around hiring freezes and personnel rules with an anticipated hiring window around early September.

Mobile crisis funding and team structure

Wolf said she and colleagues submitted a budget proposal to the New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH) asking for $138,000 to offset costs not covered by Medicaid billing for the county's daytime mobile crisis team. The proposal was approved and the award will appear in the county's state-aid letter, staff said, and the department expects the amount to continue annually.

According to the presentation to the committee, the daytime mobile crisis arrangement includes a consistent mobile crisis case manager plus a rotating roster of three therapists (two working two days per week and one working one day per week). Because Medicaid requires a licensed provider for billing, staff said the team structure ensures a licensed clinician is available on responses. The department also noted that Liberty Resources continues to provide regional mobile-crisis coverage until midnight and that mobile-crisis responses often prevent unnecessary emergency-department visits and reduce the amount of time law enforcement must remain on scene.

What the funding covers

Staff said the OMH award will cover salary support, mileage and other program expenses so that the program budget is sustainable beyond the current one-time grants that previously supported the service. The department will continue Medicaid billing for eligible encounters but reported that the reimbursement does not fully cover all program costs without the OMH offset.

Ending

Staff asked the committee for patience while billing workflows are finalized and said they will return with operational updates. The committee did not take a formal vote on the EMR transition or on the OMH award during this meeting; the OMH award was described as approved by the state and reflected in staff budget notes.