Cenpatico Blog

Insuring health in America is an ever-evolving prospect. For the past 30 years, health insurance has transitioned from traditional indemnity insurance companies to the early HMO system.

Today, managed care focuses on health and wellness through person-centered care and evidence-based best practices that deliver positive outcomes for members. The emphasis on best practices and person-centered care includes integrating physical and behavioral healthcare. In a recent study, people with depression received integrated treatment in a primary care setting from both the primary care physician and a behavioral health provider. The result was dramatic: 74 percent of the people with major depression in the integrated treatment plan showed significant symptom reduction while only 44 percent of patients who had physician treatment and referral to mental health services at a separate site showed similar improvement.¹ Integration, or collaborative care as it is sometimes called, is not a new topic in healthcare. But only recently have managed healthcare organizations maximized the opportunity for integration available in combined physical and behavioral healthcare programs by taking an active role in supporting integrated health interventions.

Studies have also demonstrated that integrating healthcare is a cost-effective approach. This is due, in part, to increased opportunities for individuals to address behavioral health and physical health concerns simultaneously. This reduces overuse of medical services, which reduces healthcare costs over time.² For people with chronic health conditions, such as diabetes and heart disease, the cost savings maybe even greater—and so may the opportunity to increase wellness.

Knowing that integrated care produces better outcomes for consumers and is more cost effective, Cenpatico has developed intensive case management programs customized to each market we serve. These programs work with our Centene affiliated health plans or external managed care organizations (MCOs) to support and develop integrated care plans for consumers with chronic physical and behavioral health conditions. Through outreach to consumers and community providers, we have successfully coordinated care across systems by building relationships with community care agencies, facilities, federally qualified community health centers (FQHCs) and community mental health centers (CMHCs). These efforts help us to better identify and coordinate the overall care of our members. In addition, our collaborative efforts to remove barriers to treatment work to advance continued recovery for consumers, and are the core of our integrated efforts.

Cenpatico provides innovative solutions for our healthcare system that are intended to increase integration of care. We work with both behavioral and physical health provider agencies to remove financial and administrative barriers for providers, which will improve access to integrated healthcare for consumers. We will continue to develop strategies to support evidence based best practices that produce better outcomes for consumers, and provide cost effective results for the healthcare delivery systems we manage.

Marianne Burdison, Director, Business Development

and Cyndi Campbell, Manager, Business Development

¹Katon, W., Von Korff, M., Lin, E., et al (1995) Collaborative management to achieve treatment guidelines: impact on depression in primary care. JAMA, 273, 1026 –1031.
²Levant, R. F., House, A. T., May, S., & Smith, R. (2006). Cost offset: Past, present, and future. Psychological Services, 3, 195-207. doi: 10.1037/1541-1559.3.3.195

This entry is filed under Blog.

Families and children in the Town of Parker, Arizona, will have a new place to cool off this summer. Thanks in large part to a $75,000 grant made by Cenpatico Behavioral Health of Arizona, Parker is in the midst of a project that will see the creation of a splash park at the southeast end of Pop Harvey Park.

The grant was made official at the Parker Town Council Meeting on March 2, when local representatives of Parker and Cenpatico of Arizona CEO Terry Stevens were on hand for a check presentation. The splash park project was initiated on Jan. 5 when the Town Council voted unanimously to approve the measure.

The park will feature a wide variety of low-flow fixtures and is expected to be completed by May of this year.

This entry is filed under News.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) will host a Webinar on April 8 from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time) as part of its Shared Decision-Making in Mental Health Webinars series.

The event, Shared Decision Making in Mental Health: Panel on Service Provider Perspectives and Experiences, is free of charge, and it is open to consumers, providers, family members, policy makers and any other interested individuals.

Patricia Deegan, PhD, of Pat Deegan PhD and Associations, LLC, Michael Leeson, MD, PhD, of Kansas Health Solutions, LLC, and Robert Johnson, MS, LPC, of the Region Ten Community Services Board, are included in the lineup of webinar speakers. Emily Woltmann, PhD, representing the Veterans Affairs National Serious Mental Illness Treatment and Research Center and the University of Michigan Department of Psychiatry Mental Health Services Outcomes and Translation, is also scheduled to speak in the event.

This webinar is sponsored by The Office of the Associate Director for Consumer Affairs and the Center for Mental Health Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Registration information for the webinar can be found by clicking here.

For more information regarding mental health, logon to SAMHSA’s website .

This entry is filed under News.

Cenpatico, in association with the Peach State Health Plan, is pleased to announce the awarding of a $35,000 grant by the Centene Foundation for Quality Healthcare to Fragile Kids Foundation, Inc. (FKF), a nonprofit organization based in Atlanta, Georgia.

Cenpatico’s parent company, Centene Corporation, established The Centene Foundation for Quality Healthcare in 2004. This 501(c)(3) non-profit foundation is dedicated to improving the quality of healthcare in the United States.

The grant award will launch the Fragile Kids Partner Program, an effort to better reach underserved, rural Georgia families caring for medically fragile children with a range of diagnoses, including cerebral palsy, spina bifida, muscular dystrophy, mitochondrial disorder and other genetic/trauma disorders.  The goal of the program is to provide medical equipment and therapy tools to those children in Georgia who are not covered by insurance or any other healthcare option by collaborating with partners in the state that are established social, educational and therapy “homes.”

“For many medically fragile children, durable medical products represent the sort of crucial equipment needed for them to grow and thrive,” said Kathy Bradley-Wells, President, Centene Foundation for Quality Healthcare. “The Fragile Kids Partners Program strengthens FKF’s capacity to serve children and families who experience healthcare disparities throughout Georgia.”

“In a grassroots effort to reach out to rural caregivers of special-needs and chronically ill children, we learned that we share so many of the same families in our equipment grants program with other smaller organizations,” said Carolyn Polakowski, Executive Director, Fragile Kids Foundation. “We discovered that these small, struggling community resource initiatives rarely have the appropriate medical equipment for children in attendance to share.  Joining forces with these smaller partners is a natural progression of our mission to fill the gaps for all children with a medically fragile diagnosis.  This grant from the Centene Foundation will empower us to launch the program statewide and deepen our network of community advocates and therapists.”

About Fragile Kids Foundation, Inc.
The Fragile Kids Foundation, a twenty-year-old charitable organization serving the entire state of Georgia, provides medical equipment and durable medical goods to medically fragile children that are not covered by government (Medicaid) or private insurance programs.  76% of the children benefitting from the programs of FKF have incomes hovering at the poverty line; 50% of the children are cared for by single mothers and grandmothers.  The Foundation provides wheelchair lifts, specialized car seats, communication aids, toileting and bathing systems and other prescribed equipment for children that cannot be secured through other means.  Children from birth to 21 who reside in Georgia and have a medically fragile diagnosis – Cerebral Palsy, Spina Bifida, Muscular Dystrophy, Mitochondrial disorder and other genetic and traumatic disorders are eligible for support.  The Foundation provides equipment through the “Healthcare Grants” and “Loaned Equipment programs.”  The new Partners Program sponsored by Centene Foundation will launch in 2010. For additional information, please visit www.fragilekids.org.

About The Centene Foundation for Quality Healthcare
The Centene Foundation for Quality Healthcare is a non-profit private foundation dedicated to improving the quality of healthcare in the United States. The Foundation serves as a resource to identify and support innovative approaches to improving and increasing the quality of and access to healthcare for low-income individuals and families. This is accomplished through an inspired philanthropic giving plan that seeks to promote efforts and activities that identify and address core causes of unequal access and treatment in healthcare.  For additional information, please visit www.centenefoundation.org.

This entry is filed under News.

I have a gripe: as a psychiatrist, I just don’t care for the term “Eating Disorders.” It is just so general and does not do justice to the psychological and physical problems that often lie beneath these different and serious disorders. It really just describes the end result; a person who eats too much or too little to the extreme. Often a person may have just started out by eating smaller or larger amounts of food. But after a while, it gets beyond their control and they eat so little, or so much, that they not only pose a danger to their health but to their very life. Here are some of the most common examples:

Anorexia Nervosa – These are usually (but not always) teenage or young adult females who eat so little that they are at risk of starvation and even death. They can have low blood pressure, brittle hair, thinning bones and heart failure, among a whole host of other physical symptoms.

The real problem here is a distorted body image. Even when they have dieted, vomited, used laxatives and exercised to the point of being only skin and bones, they still see themselves as “fat.” That makes this a body image disorder, and nothing that one says or does can change their minds. Treatment is often long and very difficult, and the object is to help these people gain enough weight to keep them alive and healthy. Fortunately most actually outgrow this illness, but some can have it off and on for a lifetime. And sadly, for a few, Anorexia can actually be fatal since they never learn to accept their body as being “normal” at a weight necessary to sustain life.

Bulimia Nervosa – This is usually quite different from Anorexia. Here an individual has the sense of a loss of control. A person eats an unusually large amount of food, and then often feels guilty about it. That leads to them secretly compensating for such a huge intake by vomiting, using laxatives, fasting and/or exercising to excess. This can also lead to serious problems such as severe tooth decay, dangerous electrolyte imbalances and stomach abnormalities.

The treatment here is frequently psychotherapy and helping a person regain a sense of control, not only of eating, but of their life in general. Other psychological disorders, such as depression, can also be present and need to be addressed in order for treatment to be successful. Medications can often be very useful here.

There are other eating disorders such as Binge Eating, which is similar to Bulimia, but the person does not try to compensate for the over-eating and is often quite obese. This is also a type of loss of control where finding the underlying psychological reasons for the eating behaviors can be very useful.

Lastly, one should not forget overeating, a national health disaster. According to the National Health and Nutrition Survey of 2001-2004, two-thirds of adult Americans are overweight and one-third are obese — figures that have only gotten worse in the previous six years. Overeating can lead to diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, osteoarthritis, some forms of cancer and many, many other physical problems that can ultimately lead to a premature death. Here, dieting is not the answer, and it generally does not work as the weight, and often more weight than before, is almost always regained.

Leading a better lifestyle, such as eating more quality foods — including whole grains, fresh vegetables, and fruit, etc. — eating in moderation, exercise and adequate sleep can go a long way in solving this American health crisis.

National Eating Disorder Awareness Week continues through Saturday. If you would like to find out more information on Eating Disorders, I highly recommend the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) website at: www.nimh.nih.gov. You can also call them toll-free at 1-866-615-6464 or email them at nimhinfo@nih.gov.

Bernard Engelberg, M.D.
Cenpatico Medical Director

These are the views of  Bernard Engleberg, M.D. and not those of Cenpatico.

This entry is filed under Blog.