How CareSource Supports Members with Substance Use Disorder

CareSource supports members with Substance Use Disorder by coordinating community resources, investing in those same communities and arranging effective treatment. Effective mental health and addiction treatment involves engaging with providers and other stakeholders to develop solutions to improve access to care, increase use of evidenced-based practices, ensure integration with physical and behavioral health services, and improve the quality of services for the members.

We are committed to developing crisis response capabilities and work with national partners in various states to enhance crisis response within communities through Crisis Intervention Teams, smooth care transitions, Mental Health First Aid and Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) Program.

CareSource is helping to expand national best practices for training Crisis Intervention Teams (CIT). CIT is a community-based program designed to improve the response to a mental health crisis. It focuses on developing collaborative relationships between law enforcement, mental health providers and individuals impacted by mental illness. As a pre-arrest diversion program, the goals of CIT include increasing safety, decreasing the number of individuals with mental illness entering the criminal justice system, and increasing referrals to mental health services.

We encourage “warm” handoffs and quick connections as members transition from one level of care to another (e.g., outpatient services after inpatient and residential care). CareSource hosts Community Learning Collaboratives - a venue for providers and community partners to actively collaborate and advocate for the support needed to care for this population. We also provide Care Management or Transitions of Care Coordinators to provide assistance to the member and providers in transitioning our member into the community with appropriate services and resources to meet their current needs.

CareSource offers Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) - a national program that teaches skills needed to recognize and respond to the signs of mental health and substance use issues. CareSource has provided MHFA training to all internal member-facing staff and expanded our offering of MHFA training to providers, EMS, and Police Departments. In addition, we are training staff on Question, Persuade, and Refer (QPR) Gatekeeper Training for Suicide Prevention. Those trained will be able to train on this educational program designed to teach "gatekeepers" the warning signs of a suicide crisis and how to respond. We will also offer the training to our community partners.

We support CareSource members seeking treatment with an integrated Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) Program and has increased their network across markets. They do this by educating and supporting MAT providers by:

• Providing ongoing practice support for physicians to complete SAMHSA waiver training
• Sharing data with providers on detox outcomes, also known as withdrawal management
• Providing residential services encouraging and helping link to recovery supports
• Offering access to MAT in non-behavioral health clinic settings
• Providing assistance with coordination of care

In addition to the above, CareSource offers the DisposeRx program, which is used to communicate with members about safe ways to dispose of unused medications. In this program, free DisposeRx packets are offered to members who can use them to dispose of expired drugs or medications they no longer take. Members can request a DisposeRx kit on CareSource's member website.