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Sawyer County HHS unveils strategic plan emphasizing workforce, EHR and reduced out-of-home mental-health costs
Summary
The department presented a strategic plan prioritizing workforce retention, an electronic health record to cut duplicate documentation, revenue-maximizing billing strategies and changes to the Transitions program intended to reduce costly out-of-home mental-health placements.
Sawyer County Health and Human Services leaders presented a compact strategic plan Dec. 9 that centers on four priorities: improve employee engagement and retention, implement an electronic health record (EHR) to reduce duplicate documentation, increase revenue streams through targeted billing, and reduce mental-health out-of-home costs by changing how residential 'Transitions' services are used.
Julia, who led the presentation, said the department will focus available staffing and training on long-term clients who require more intensive care, including additional hires trained in dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) techniques for residential work. The aim is to maintain intensive, 24/7 staffing in Transitions while lowering reliance on external placements such as Winnebago, which the department said does not currently accept medical assistance. Julia said shifting clients into county-controlled Transitions and improving step-down pathways should yield “at least a 25% reduction” in out-of-home costs even after adding staff.
The plan also calls for an EHR and a centralized referral process to match clients to programs more efficiently and reduce duplicate intake work. Julia said the EHR will create one source of record for client information and billing, and that staff training would enable billing in areas previously not billed, including targeted case management (CCS) where appropriate.
On revenue, the department plans to pursue preferred-provider arrangements with insurers, expand billing capacity through staff training, and use centralized referrals to identify the highest-reimbursing program consistent with client needs. Carrie (revenue lead) noted that new case-management revenue streams in CPS and youth justice areas have started to materialize this year.
Members asked for measurable targets; staff said they will produce reports to show progress on goals and will prioritize a small set of achievable metrics. The state application for a waiver that would allow medical assistance at certain out-of-home placements was described as a potential future cost reducer but not relied on for the plan.
The committee did not take formal budget action at the meeting; staff will return with implementation details and reporting templates.
