This is also the first quarter in which the programs are operating under the new REACH standards. Changes in the standards designed to make the programs more accessible, responsive, and clinically sophisticated have begun to shape services to better fit the needs of the communities served. The programs will experience challenges as they adapt to the new expectations. It is expected, however, that the process of adapting will ultimately make the programs stronger. A complaint process has also been developed and is outlined in the REACH Guidelines. This will offer another avenue for monitoring quality and ensuring that legitimate concerns are addressed and remedied. Moving into the next quarter, the Department intends to continue to look for ways to improve collaboration between the programs and emergency services personnel to increase REACH’s effectiveness in diverting admissions to psychiatric hospitals. In order to do this, they need to be involved at the earliest point in the crisis, and working toward a more consistent and coordinated effort between ES and REACH will help ensure this outcome. Additionally, full implementation of the quality monitoring tool has begun and will provide programs with a structured and objective way to review their own work alongside of the quality reviews conducted by DBHDS. It is hoped that dialogue flowing from these reviews will lead to improvements both in the programs and in DBHDS’ practices for data collection, outcome monitoring, and policy development. ADDENDUM The graphs in this addendum are provided to supplement the information contained in the larger quarterly report. The reader is cautioned that information hospitalizations is likely not entirely reliable, and conclusions drawn from it may be speculative. Many private hospitals across the Commonwealth provide psychiatric care to individuals with ID/DD. While the REACH programs remain actively involved with all hospitalized cases when they are aware of they may not always be apprised that a REACH client has been hospitalized or this disposition, that an individual with DD has entered inpatient treatment. This is particularly true when private hospitals are involved. As noted earlier in this report, the Commonwealth has begun to receive daily census reports from the state hospitals to ensure they are aware of and can follow up with
This is also the first quarter in which the programs are operating under the new REACH standards. Changes in the standards designed to make the programs more accessible, responsive, and clinically sophisticated have begun to shape services to better fit the needs of the communities served. The programs will experience challenges as they adapt to the new expectations. It is expected, however, that the process of adapting will ultimately make the programs stronger. A complaint process has also been developed and is outlined in the REACH Guidelines. This will offer another avenue for monitoring quality and ensuring that legitimate concerns are addressed and remedied. Moving into the next quarter, the Department intends to continue to look for ways to improve collaboration between the programs and emergency services personnel to increase REACH’s effectiveness in diverting admissions to psychiatric hospitals. In order to do this, they need to be involved at the earliest point in the crisis, and working toward a more consistent and coordinated effort between ES and REACH will help ensure this outcome. Additionally, full implementation of the quality monitoring tool has begun and will provide programs with a structured and objective way to review their own work alongside of the quality reviews conducted by DBHDS. It is hoped that dialogue flowing from these reviews will lead to improvements both in the programs and in DBHDS’ practices for data collection, outcome monitoring, and policy development. ADDENDUM The graphs in this addendum are provided to supplement the information contained in the larger quarterly report. The reader is cautioned that information hospitalizations is likely not entirely reliable, and conclusions drawn from it may be speculative. Many private hospitals across the Commonwealth provide psychiatric care to individuals with ID/DD. While the REACH programs remain actively involved with all hospitalized cases when they are aware of this disposition, they may not always be apprised that a REACH client has been hospitalized or that an individual with DD has entered inpatient treatment. This is particularly true when private hospitals are involved. As noted earlier in this report, the Commonwealth has begun to receive daily census reports from the state hospitals to ensure they are aware of and can follow up with