Pennsylvania Announces MCO Trainings for Community-based Organizations

The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS) recently added requirements to our Medicaid Managed Care Organizations (MCOs) to incorporate community-based organizations into their plans to advance our health care system towards value (a concept called value-based purchasing), which emphasizes results over transactional cost.

Part of the goal is to make sure that community-based organizations (CBOs) understand these changes and can effectively partner with MCOs and providers to deliver social services. This is an opportunity to better support CBOs in delivering effective social services and providing fair financial compensation for these services. The attached document provides additional information to help you understand this initiative and why your organization should learn more about it.

DHS invites you to join us for a series of four training sessions for CBOs to better understand how to get involved, the different models for these agreements and the operational aspects involved, and the requirements for CBOs. DHS is teaming up with the Center for Evidence-Based Policy (CEBP) for the trainings and they will be provided at no cost to your organization.

Webinars have a limited capacity, and all participants are required so sign up (links below). After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. You must register for each session separately.

If you have any questions, please contact Michael Hershey at c-mhershey@pa.gov

CBO Training Session 1, in a series of Four, will give an overview of Value-based Purchasing (VBP), customized for a CBO audience, focusing on the rationale and goals of transitioning from fee-for-service to MCO/provider contracts that are part of a VBP arrangement. This session would include an overview of the benefits and challenges of these partnerships and include examples of successful CBO partnerships.

Please register for PA CBO Training: Training Session #1 on Apr 28, 2021 9:00 AM EDT at:

https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2002813620826307852

CBO Training Session 2 will give an overview of how CBOs can best align and adapt their governance and operations to support participation in an MCO and/or provider contract. The training would address a CBO readiness checklist that includes key areas of governance and organizational infrastructure, as well as a budget model that takes into account new MCO/provider revenue.

Please register for PA CBO Training: Training Session #2 on May 17, 2021 11:00 AM EDT at:

https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3601435357891893004

CBO Training Session 3 will focus on evaluation of readiness for partnerships, as well as considerations for picking an MCO or provider organization partner and negotiating an agreement. In addition to evaluating CBO readiness to enter into a contract with an MCO or provider partner, this session will address key contract terms and related considerations for CBO contracts with MCOs and providers.

Please register for PA CBO Training: Training Session #3 on May 28, 2021 11:00 AM EDT at:

https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3054249102678062348

CBO Training Session 4 will be a workshop-style session and we will seek to provide examples for how CBOs can plan for and implement Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) interventions that are part of a value-based purchasing arrangement between MCOs and provider organizations. The workshop will also address questions raised during the workshop session and revisit select questions from training sessions 1-3.

Please register for PA CBO Training: Training Session #4 on Jun 17, 2021 4:00 PM EDT at:

https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2793971610639341836