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DPH outlines response to Board of Supervisorsperformance audit of Behavioral Health Services
Summary
DPH behavioral health leadership briefed the Health Commission on actions responding to 15 audit recommendations, highlighting efforts on CBO performance monitoring, documentation improvements, transformation of intensive case management to open ~200 slots, and hiring crisis intervention specialists.
Department of Public Health behavioral health leaders presented a detailed response to a multi-year Board of Supervisors performance audit, describing 15 recommendations and the departments current actions and planned next steps.
The presentation highlighted five priority areas: monitoring community-based organization (CBO) contractor performance through annual program reviews and random audits; raising documentation and civil-service clinic standards to align with CBO monitoring; defining and transforming intensive case management (ICM) services to improve flow and reduce wait lists; improving PES discharge coding and referral-to-linkage pathways; and strengthening crisis intervention team (CIT) partnerships with the Police Department including hiring additional crisis intervention specialists.
DPH reported improved compliance on several fronts, cited high triennial-audit scores from the state for its mental health plan, and noted investments in business-intelligence tools, expanded QA audits, and a new RFQ to open 40 ICM slots plus utilization-management work intended to open roughly 200 slots in this fiscal year. DPH said it will implement performance-improvement plans with the state for ICM flow metrics and add outcome-focused measures (e.g., repeat hospitalization, post-discharge services) as part of monitoring.
Commissioners asked how DPH will demonstrate outcomes and track progress; the director said DPH will report utilization-management outcomes starting in September and produce ongoing reports tied to performance improvement metrics. DPH also said portions of the behavioral-health EHR and PES data capture will benefit from EPIC interoperability in later waves.
Commissioners and staff acknowledged ongoing work and asked for continued progress reports, particularly on ICM staffing needs, utilization management metrics, and PES discharge linkage improvements.
