The Behavioral Health Organization (BHO) initiative oversees the transition to managed care for Medicaid recipients who receive mental health (MH) and substance use disorder (SUD) services in New York State. The metrics emphasize improving rates of timely follow-up treatment post discharge, timely filling of appropriate medication prescriptions post discharge, and reducing rates of readmission.The BHO MH Engagement in Care dataset is designed to assess the degree to which individuals discharged from mental health inpatient treatment engage in outpatient treatment post discharge where "engagement" is defined as receiving two or more outpatient mental health visits within thirty days of discharge and the degree to which individuals discharged from mental health inpatient treatment engage in outpatient treatment post discharge where "engagement" is defined as receiving four or more outpatient mental health visits within 60 days of discharge. The year 2015 saw the conclusion of the first phase of the Behavioral Health Organization initiative (BHO). A new Behavioral Health Managed Care Transition phase II is underway. The data contained in the BHO metrics span 2010 to 2014, using the 2010 calendar year for a baseline. Earlier in the program (2011‐2012) the metrics were calculated quarterly and on a year‐to‐date basis, later in (2013‐2014), New York State Office of Mental Health opted for semi‐annual and year‐to‐date aggregations.

Tags: acute care discharges, follow-up treatments, detoxification & rehabilitation