0

For Providers

#FFFFFF

This page contains resources for behavioral health providers. If you are looking for resources to help you or a loved one with a mental health or substance use issue, visit the Find Behavioral Health Help page.

Provider Technology Office Hours

The BHA technology team has open office hours on the second Wednesday of every month at 1 p.m. for behavioral health providers, specifically data/admin team members. Office hours include the following:

  • News and improvements related to the BHA technology system
  • Answers to technology questions from the BHA tech team
  • Ideas and tips from others in the field
  • Opportunities to further engage with the BHA technology team 

Register for Office Hours here! 

Please email abigail.fisher@state.co.us with any access needs you have. We are committed to making this meeting series and related content easily accessible to our communities.

Did you know we always hold the last 30 minutes of Technology Office Hours for provider questions and discussion? Submit a topic or question to let us know what you'd like our team to be prepared to speak to during this Q&A!

2024 Office Hours Slides & Recordings 
  • Jan 10, 2024  
  • Feb 14, 2024 
  • Mar 13, 2024 
  • Apr 10, 2024 | Upcoming 
  • May 8, 2024 | Upcoming 
  • Jun 12, 2024 | Upcoming 
  • Jul 10, 2024 | Upcoming 
  • Aug 14, 2024 | Upcoming 
  • Sep 11, 2024 | Upcoming 
  • Oct 9, 2024 | Upcoming 
  • Nov 13, 2024 | Upcoming 
  • Dec 11, 2024 | Upcoming 
2023 Office Hours Slides & Recordings 

Sign up for BHA technology email updates

Provider Convenings

The BHA Statewide Programs team is hosting discussions with providers to talk about:

  • Information and updates relating to crisis services
  • Behavioral Health Administrative Service Organizations (BHASOs)
  • Care Coordination planning
  • Opportunities for ongoing engagement and provider contributions 
Upcoming dates and times
  • Feb. 15 at 1 p.m.
  • April 18 at 1 p.m.

Register for a provider convening

View recordings of past meetings

Provider Technology Help Desk

For general information and questions about our data modernization projects, email cdhs_bha_provider_support@state.co.us. Reminder: Do not send personal health information (PHI) through unencrypted email. The help desk is available from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Ongoing feedback for the system or supporting processes can be submitted via this feedback form. The BHA team will monitor feedback to inform future improvements to the system. 

The feedback form was created as a way to capture and collect feedback in regard to the Central Registry. It is also now our primary ticketing system to track our processes and feedback for continual improvement.  

The Help Desk will be reviewing, organizing, responding to, and communicating with our Development team about feedback/tickets received. The feedback and tickets we receive play a critical role in identifying areas of the platform that may need improvement.

#FFFFFF

Research and Project Plans

Universal Contracting Provisions

Universal Contracting Provisions (UCPs) are requirements that every behavioral health contract for a particular service must contain, regardless of who the contracting parties are, or how many contracts for services exist. UCPs are incredibly helpful in ensuring that minimum standards, resources, and obligations are uniform, consistent, and fair across service providers within the new state care continuum, and that every person in Colorado will be able to access behavioral health care that is meaningful and trusted.

The BHA is holding space for co-creation of universal contracting provisions before July 1, 2023. These provisions are important in order to properly contract for behavioral health services and set standards for the industry that work for all parties. 

UCP resources
Public meeting notes
Capacity Tracking and Bed Management System

Project Overview 

  • Colorado's Behavioral Health Administration is currently building a Capacity Tracking and Bed Management System.
  • This platform will allow behavioral health providers and other providers of social services to gather accurate residential/inpatient treatment availability information and better facilitate the referrals and placement process. 
  • In future iterations of the platform, the BHA may expand the scope of the include outpatient services as well as other services that support Social Determinants of Health. 

Community Research

From December 2022 through February 2023, the BHA researched the goals, user landscape, and organizational context of “bed capacity tracking” within the BHA's technology portfolio. We sought to recommend how a behavioral health capacity tracking system could best improve care coordination and access for the people of Colorado.

Although there were some initial findings on provider’s referral processes and what features / functionalities of a platform might improve administrative churn, the bed capacity research sprint did not dive deeply into this topic. So from July - October of 2023, BHA conducted additional research to deepen our knowledge base on how providers facilitate referrals today, how a State administered tech platform might improve efficiency, and how we as the BHA might hold the behavioral health community accountable to equitable practices through these improved processes. 

User Testing

We conduct regular user testing on this new system as we prepare for launch.  We will continue to perform user testing post-launch as well. You can read the results of the testing completed to date below. 

Reducing Administrative Burden 

Project Overview 

  • Behavioral healthcare providers that care for uninsured, underinsured, and undocumented people have to hurdle extreme bureaucratic barriers. 
  • It’s imperative that BHA address the administrative burden and negative impact on provider-client relationships caused by the CCAR/DACODS reports. 
  • Through engagement with providers, we have determined a roadmap to update the data model and technology systems to improve CCAR/DACODS.  

Community Research

From March through July of 2023, the Behavioral Health Administration’s technology team conducted primary and secondary research on the administrative burden created through CCAR/DACODS reporting requirements and technology systems. 

Memo for emergency departments

The Behavioral Health Agency has issued a memo to provide clarity and guidance on how an emergency department informs BHA when an individual on a mental health hold is placed on a subsequent mental health hold. This memo also provides guidance for how emergency departments may reach out to BHA for support in finding appropriate placement options for an individual on an initial mental health hold.

View the memo