Tracking SIM practice transformation efforts - Jan. 27, 2017
The Colorado State Innovation Model (SIM) team wishes you and your care team a Happy New Year! Next month we celebrate one year of SIM implementation in cohort 1 practices and will release the application for cohort 2 . 

We appreciated the opportunity to meet some of you during the first SIM Symposium Jan. 18 and have a brief summary of the event with a few photos in this issue. Stay tuned for more information with details about the changes we made to the SIM initiative based on your feedback. Sneak peek: Cohort 1 practices can adapt to the new framework or continue down the integration path they are on. 
Learning from SIM cohort 1

With almost a year of experience implementing SIM in practices, more than 80 stakeholders gathered Jan. 18 for the inaugural SIM Symposium to share ideas, identify challenges and open dialogue between insurance companies, SIM providers and practice transformation organizations that act as guides in the process.
Provider education resources

SIM providers can access free educational tools to improve communication with patients regarding perinatal mood disorders. T he 
Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorder provider training,  which was developed by the University of Colorado School of Public Health  with SIM funding, takes 45 to 60 minutes to complete. To date, 125 providers have taken advantage of this opportunity to earn one hour of CME credit. The training enables providers to: 
  • Identify current guidelines for perinatal depression and anxiety assessment and treatment.
  • Locate and use screening assessment tools for perinatal mood disorders.
  • Gain knowledge on evidence-based treatments for perinatal mood disorders.
  • Develop skills to increase efficacy and intent to manage perinatal mood disorders.
  • Locate local and national resources for perinatal mood disorders.
Assuring Better Child Health and Development (ABCD), the state's contractor for the developmental screening maternal and child health priority area, works with communities, local public health agencies, pediatric providers, and child care providers to help identify children who might have developmental delays as early as possible.SIM providers can find valuable tools on the website, including:
SIM Q4 CQM Reporting Requirements

The SIM office released updated clinical quality measure (CQM) reporting requirements for the fourth quarter (Q4). SIM practice sites will report five CQMs for Q4 that are due Jan. 31. Please note the change in the measurement period. For SIM Q4, the measurement period will be from Jan. 1, 2016 through Dec. 31, 2016, instead of the previous 90-day reporting time frame. This full calendar year report will be shared with payers that support your practice site for SIM. Please see the SIM Cohort 1 Q4 CQM Reporting Requirements for more details.
Changes to SIM measurement period

The SIM office has changed the measurement period for CQM reporting. Starting with Q1 2017 reporting, which is due April 30, SIM practice sites will report using a trailing year or a year-to-date measurement period. This approach aligns with other initiatives, such as the Comprehensive Primary Care Plus and the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act/Quality Payment Program. The change is intended to ease the reporting burden for SIM practice sites. For more details, please see the summary.
Local resources for the QPP

Save the date (Feb. 16, 12:15-1:15 pm) for a Quality Payment Program (QPP) webinar and learn more about the Colorado QPP Coalition, which consolidates useful resources, from your colleagues. 
Challenges, changes to SIM data collection

Listen to an active discussion about challenges SIM practices have had with reporting clinical quality measures and the ways in which the SIM team is hoping to help. This on-demand webinar, which was focused on SIM data collection efforts, includes information about changes to SIM data measures and to reporting periods starting in February. The SIM team is seeking input from stakeholders about what challenges providers face with electronic health record vendors for future outreach efforts. We'd welcome feedback about specific issues you have had so that we can create a valuable outreach to these vendors and help practices with contract negotiations to prevent future issues. Please contact the SIM team with input at your earliest convenience.

SIM data progress

As we continue to collect data from SIM practices, the SIM team will be able to assess, evaluate and report to stakeholders for ongoing quality improvement.  Click here to view the graph (below) in a browser.
  • This is a subset of clinical quality measures that reflects a few behavioral health and a few primary care measures.
  • Not all practices report on each of these measures. Pediatric and adult practices report according to their respective reporting groups; family medicine practices select whether they want to report on either pediatric or adult measures.
Creating financially stable models of integrated care

Please attend a free webinar Feb. 7 at 12:00 PM MDT with SIM stakeholders and learn how the Colorado Multi-payer Collaborative has supported the integration of behavioral health and primary care through the SIM initiative.
Tap free SIM tools

We hope you will take advantage of the data benchmarking tool that is available to SIM practices through the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA). Enter your practice demographic information into your "practice profile" by clicking the "participate" button at  data.mgma.org.  You can also find resources, including question checklists and guides, FAQs and more at  mgma.org/participate to help you start preparing for the surveys. 

Contact the MGMA Data Solutions department with questions (877.275.6462 ext. 1895) or via  email .
SIM information-sharing webinar

Save-the-date for the Behavioral Health Information Sharing webinar scheduled for Feb. 22. We are looking forward to a lively discussion with healthcare experts and will send more detailed information in the coming weeks.  Click here to register.
Getting started with MIPS for small, rural and underserved practices

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services invites small, rural, and underserved practices to join a webinar on  February 1 at 1:00 PM ET to learn more about participation in the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) track of the Quality Payment Program.
Suggested reading

Payment reform in the patient-centered medical home: Enabling and sustaining integrated behavioral healthcare

New paper describes alternatives to the traditional fee-for-service payment model, concluding that global payment provides the optimal structure for integrating behavioral health physicians into the patient-centered medical home.

 
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