Cenpatico Blog

Harriet Shetler, co-founder of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), died on April 2 in Madison, Wis. at the age of 92.  Her death was confirmed to the New York Times by her daughter, Jane S. Ross.

A parent of a schizophrenic son, Charles, Shetler founded NAMI, known then as the Alliance for the Mentally Ill (AMI), alongside 13 of her peers in April 1977. In 1979, AMI formed an alliance with a California-based advocacy group for the mentally ill and was renamed the National Alliance on Mental Illness. From that point forward, NAMI grew throughout the nation and now includes affiliates in all 50 states and more than 1,100 communities.

“Cenpatico has been a long time supporter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), and we were saddened to hear of the death of Mrs. Harriet Schetler, one of our nation’s most passionate and prominent champions for those suffering from mental illness,” Cenpatico Chief Executive Officer Sam Donaldson, PhD, said Monday. “As we mourn Harriet’s passing, we are reminded of her overwhelming accomplishments as co-founder of NAMI and her lifelong mission to end the stigma associated with mental illness in our society.”

Shetler was born Harriet Jane McCown on Aug. 1, 1917, in Leechburg, Pa. Mrs. Shetler’s husband, Charles W. Shetler, died on March 21. The couple is survived by their daughter, son, and two grandsons.

Information from the New York Times (www.nytimes.com) and National Alliance on Mental Illness (www.nami.org) was used in this report.

This entry is filed under News.

Cenpatico School Products, Cenpatico’s school based services subsidiary, has rolled out a new website that encompasses the suite of services offered by CSP including Academic Behavioral Alternatives (ABA Schools), IntegratED Consulting and InSpeech.

Cenpatico School Products started in Arizona in 1995 with ABA Schools, a group of state-approved, private special education day programs. Over time, and in direct response to requests received from school/district customers, ABA Schools began to develop models for more cost-effective programs and services which were directly tied to the communities in which our students resided.  Today, ABA Schools employs more than 60 professional and para-professional staff across more than 20 classrooms at five campuses throughout Arizona.

As the ABA Schools program grew, they began to identify customers that were looking for solutions beyond day treatment for their students and systems. From this newly identified need, IntegratED consulting was created. Through IntegratED we provide direct service providers, psychologists, occupational therapists, behavioral specialists and teachers. IntegratED also provides special educational consultants and administrators who support districts with professional development, training, program improvement and design.

To further develop the network and services continuum, Cenpatico School Products acquired InSpeech in 2009. InSpeech, Cenpatico School Products’ subsidiary, provides speech and language services in schools, hospitals and nursing care facilities.

Cenpatico School Products’ new site provides a wealth of information on these three service lines in addition to more information about our network and career opportunities within Cenpatico School Products.

Click here to check out the new Cenpatico School Products website.

Erin Geoffroy

Marketing Specialist

This entry is filed under Blog.

ST. LOUIS, Missouri — March 17, 2010 — Centene Corporation (NYSE: CNC) announced today that one of its subsidiaries, Cenpatico Behavioral Health of Arizona (Cenpatico Arizona), has been awarded an expanded contract by the Arizona Department of Health Services.

Cenpatico Arizona currently manages behavioral healthcare services for more than 17,000 members in Yuma, La Paz, Gila and Pinal Counties. This new agreement renews and expands Cenpatico’s coverage to an additional 5,000 members in four additional counties: Santa Cruz, Greenlee, Graham and Cochise.

The contract is scheduled to take effect on July 1, 2010.

“Our staff has dedicated itself to improving the lives of people with behavioral issues while properly managing the funds provided by state and federal programs,” said Terry Stevens, chief executive officer of Cenpatico Arizona. “This is very exciting news for us. We look forward to serving our new members and to helping them reach their recovery and wellness goals.”

Based on current projections, Centene expects the expanded agreement to generate additional annualized revenues of between $40-$45 million.

About Centene Corporation

Centene Corporation is a leading multi-line healthcare enterprise that provides programs and related services to the rising number of under-insured and uninsured individuals. Many receive benefits provided under Medicaid, including the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), as well as Aged, Blind or Disabled (ABD), Foster Care and long-term care, in addition to other state-sponsored programs, and Medicare (Special Needs Plans). Centene’s CeltiCare subsidiary offers states unique, “exchange based” and other cost-effective coverage solutions for low-income populations. The Company operates local health plans and offers a range of health insurance solutions. It also contracts with other healthcare and commercial organizations to provide specialty services including behavioral health, life and health management, managed vision, telehealth services, and pharmacy benefits management. More information regarding Centene is available at www.centene.com.

Cenpatico Behavioral Health of Arizona, LLC(TM)(Cenpatico) facilitates the delivery of mental health and substance abuse services to behavioral health recipients in the Arizona counties of Yuma, La Paz, Gila and Pinal. Cenpatico embraces the Arizona System Principles, the Arizona Children’s Vision and Principles, and Principles for Person with Serious Mental Illness (Arizona principles), which express the ADHS/DBHS commitment to a build consumer-driven system that is responsive to the needs of behavioral health recipients, families, stakeholders and communities. Cenpatico is a subsidiary of Cenpatico Behavioral Health, LLC(TM) (CBH).

The information provided in this press release contains forward-looking statements that relate to future events and future financial performance of Centene. Subsequent events and developments may cause the Company’s estimates to change. The Company disclaims any obligation to update this forward-looking financial information in the future. Readers are cautioned that matters subject to forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, including economic, regulatory, competitive and other factors that may cause Centene’s or its industry’s actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ from projections or estimates due to a variety of important factors, including Centene’s ability to accurately predict and effectively manage health benefits and other operating expenses, competition, changes in healthcare practices, changes in federal or state laws or regulations, inflation, provider contract changes, new technologies, reduction in provider payments by governmental payors, major epidemics, disasters and numerous other factors affecting the delivery and cost of healthcare. The expiration, cancellation or suspension of Centene’s Medicaid Managed Care contracts by state governments would also negatively affect Centene.

This entry is filed under News.

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.