Netsmart CareThreads

Despite its frequent buzzword reference today, “person-centered care” is rooted firmly and deeply in hospice care. 

The future of healthcare lies in replicating what hospice care is really about -- serving the whole person by an interdisciplinary team who believes in care without barriers.

In this episode of Netsmart CareThreads, Samira Beckwith, President and CEO at Hope Healthcare , unpacks what it means and why it’s so important for hospices to go back to the future. 

Join us as we discuss:

This discussion was taken from our show Netsmart CareThreads. If you want to hear more episodes like this one, check us out on Apple Podcasts. 

If you don’t use Apple Podcasts, you can find every episode here. 

Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for Netsmart CareThreads in your favorite podcast player.

Recent history has impacted many foundational elements of the behavioral health care delivery system as we know it. To make the most of the opportunities before us, we need to understand five key elements that are driving the delivery of behavioral health services.

In this episode, I speak with Bob Sheehan, CEO at Co mmunity Mental Health Association of Michigan, about the complex factors influencing the behavioral health services delivery system today and in the future.

Join Bob and me as we discuss these five key elements:

This discussion was taken from our show Netsmart CareThreads. If you want to hear more episodes like this one, check us out on Apple Podcasts. 

If you don’t use Apple Podcasts, you can find every episode here. 

Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for Netsmart CareThreads in your favorite podcast player.

Law enforcement often comes in contact with individuals who need behavioral health care rather than lawful arrest or incarceration. To provide immediate and appropriate care in these situations, more communities are pairing behavioral health professionals with police officers when responding to a crisis situation. This collaboration works to reduce unnecessary incarceration and emergency department visits by connecting the individual in need to the appropriate support and resources, benefitting and protecting all who are involved. It’s about the right intervention, at the right time, by the right person. 

In this episode, I speak with Tim DeWeese, Director at Johnson County Mental Health, about Mobile Crisis Response to assist first responders. We’ll also talk about the “Zero Reasons Why” campaign designed to disrupt youth suicide, and how community engagement can impact our culture’s ongoing mental health conversation.

In this episode, plan to hear:

- Tim’s professional passion in providing immediate access to care

- Details about the co-responder program and how to start one

- The youth-led campaign that has reduced youth suicide, even during the pandemic

- How a positive community response about mental health should look

As promised, here are the links to resources Tim described during the podcast:

- Mental Health Moments - weekly emails  

- “Front Line Support” - an emergency crisis c ounseling initiative supporting the front-lines

- #ZeroReasonsWhy Campaign - to disrupt teen suicide t hrough expanded story-telling and social media content

- The Johnson County Suicide Prevention Coalition - a community coalition with nearly 500 members, r epresenting dozens of sucide prevention inittiatives

- It's Okay if You're not Okay Podcast 

- Mindfulness and Emotion Regulation - information on anxiety and self-car e resources

- Whole Healthy You (WHY) - The Mental Health Cent er joined the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) in launching the WHY campaign with the goal to capture the attention of adolescents and young adults and direct them to the State’s new Youth Health Guide.

- Elevate for Educators - Elevate for Educators covers seven important topics, including Mental Well-Being for Educators, Managing Mental Health Challenges, Mindful Living, Developing Coping Skills, Supporting a Friend or Loved One, Building Strengths and Motivation, and Strategies for Stress Management.

- Racial Trauma - information and resources on racism and racial trauma

This discussion was taken from our show Netsmart CareThreads. If you want to hear more episodes like this one, check us out on Apple Podcasts. 

If you don’t use Apple Podcasts, you can find every episode here. 

Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for Netsmart CareThreads in your favorite podcast player.

One key concept emerged from navigating the pandemic over the past year — self care.

How can leaders of community providers across post-acute and human services navigate self care for themselves and their team members?

In this episode of Netsmart CareThreads, Sonnie Linebarger, Chief Operating Officer at Bristol Hospice, talks about how caregivers can maximize their effectiveness by prioritizing self care. Sonnie’s words of advice transcend all communities of care where clinicians are caring for the vulnerable in our society including mental health, addictions treatment, senior care, and home care.

Specifically, Sonnie discusses:

- What self care means (and doesn't mean) for caregivers

- Exploding the myth that self care is selfish

- How hospice leaders can model great self care for their team members

This discussion with Sonnie Linebarger was taken from our show Netsmart CareThreads. If you want to hear more episodes like this one, check us out on Apple Podcasts.If you don’t use Apple Podcasts, you can find every episode here.

Missed Developmental Disabilities Month in March? Don't worry – let’s continue the conversation together.

Individuals with developmental disabilities often face unique barriers that can make it challenging to fully connect to their communities. In order to create a more inclusive environment for all, whether that be regarding employment, social experiences or available resources, open and consistent communication is paramount. 

On a recent episode of the CareThreads podcast, Paige Rockers spoke with Sue Walker, Chief Program Officer, Hammer Residences, about the developmental disabilities community and how we can all create a more inclusive world together.

Barriers to Inclusion

Most barriers to inclusion are not as complex as we might imagine. But they're not easy to solve, either. Humans have an innate tendency to seek out people we feel comfortable with and have similar ways of interacting. When people appear, act or respond differently than us, we are inclined to feel uncomfortable or uncertain. This often sparks a gap that affects individuals with developmental disorders, as their interactions, needs and ways of communication are sometimes different.

Individuals with developmental disorders also face challenges with employment. We want to say that people should be employed wherever they want, with whatever their skill is. But in reality, businesses face an array of challenges when it comes to hiring and supporting people with disabilities. There are financial and regulatory issues involved that most folks don't think about.

People with developmental disabilities are highly capable of a wide array of employment opportunities. Employers often need to make adaptations and instill support for people with disabilities in the workplace. It's a space where we have a lot of work to do. And we can all do our part.

We don't always think of everything that people with developmental disabilities might need to feel included. At a business or social event — even in a community, such as accessing a building or a resource — people with developmental disabilities may feel ostracized.

Creating a More Inclusive Community

The more we talk to each other, the more we learn about the barriers other people face. Through honest and genuine conversations, we can work to better understand one another, despite the differing challenges or disabilities.

Communication is the easiest way to overcome barriers for people with developmental disabilities. Hammer's mission emphasizes that we're all people — just humans — and forming relationships is the most important part of the human experience. It's how we get to know, appreciate and support one another.

Whether someone has a disability or not, we need to keep empathy and respect at the forefront of all of our interactions and thinking. It's important to search out all the opportunities we have for communicating with new people in order to grow as a cohesive community that welcomes all walks of life.

While Developmental Disabilities Month of 2021 is in the past, that doesn’t mean the efforts, communication and collaboration should stop. If you’re interested in getting involved or learning more about developmental disabilities a great first step is to volunteer. Simply spending time with individuals helps break down barriers while forming understanding relationships.

The more we participate with one another, without feeling uncomfortable, the more inclusive and accepting we will naturally become.

This discussion with Sue Walker was taken from our show Netsmart CareThreads. If you want to hear more episodes like this one, check us out on Apple Podcasts here.

If you don’t use Apple Podcasts, you can find every episode here.

Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for CareThreads in your favorite podcast player.

Congress passed and President Biden signed the $2 trillion American Rescue Plan Act. How will it affect your organization?

In this episode of Netsmart CareThreads, Tom Herzog, Chief Operating Officer for Netsmart, and Kevin Scalia, EVP, Corporate Development at Netsmart Technologies, discuss this significant legislation. What's included in it? What does it provide for the human services and post-acute provider communities we serve?

Here's what Tom and Kevin talked about:

- Funding and grant opportunities for human services and post-acute care providers in the American Rescue Plan Act.

- The impact of COVID-19 on the scale of this legislation.

- How Netsmart collaborated with leading industry associations to build a common agenda to highlight the funding needs of providers who need technology as the bridge to fully integrate with other key components of the healthcare ecosystem.

- Potential future legislation with levels of funding that could fundamentally change the way Netsmart clients deliver Home and Community-Based Services.

- Move fast: Some providers wait too long to put together a business plan and strategy. Lots of money being allocated, it will be spent fast. Also non-traditional competitors are moving into the space.

- Think big: Look beyond vertical thinking like opening new facilities…to horizontal thinking like how to leverage current service lines and expertise in new settings

This discussion with Kevin Scalia was taken from our show Netsmart Care Threads. If you want to hear more episodes like this one, check us out on Apple Podcasts.

If you don’t use Apple Podcasts, you can find every episode here.

The COVID-19 pandemic proved to be challenging for all healthcare organizations, especially for those who didn’t have some kind of crisis plan in place. In order to adapt and prevail through an unexpected event that could disrupt service lines, organizations need to strategize ahead of time and define their roadmap to success.

In this episode of Netsmart CareThreads, Danielle Ross, Virtual CIO and Vice President at Netsmart, talks about discovering your path to value.

Specifically, Danielle discusses:

- The core foundational requirements needed to address a crisis

- Management planning considerations when optimizing processes and tools

- Best practice solutions to get on the right track

This discussion with Danielle Ross was taken from our show Netsmart CareThreads. If you want to hear more episodes like this one, check us out on Apple Podcasts.If you don’t use Apple Podcasts, you can find every episode here.

Some things — just a few — changed in 2020. Are those changes here to stay, or are we only having a moment?

What does the behavioral health landscape look like post-COVID?

On this episode of Netsmart CareThreads, we talked about the future of behavioral healthcare post-COVID with Dr. Ron Manderscheid, President and CEO of the National Association of County Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities Directors and the National Association for Rural Mental Health, and an adjunct professor in the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Here's what we discussed with Ron:

- “Modernizing” virtual care to engages all of a person’s providers to create a more integrated care environment

- Closing the chasm between community-based and institutional care settings to create a “center” while also respecting the recovery movement

- Embracing consensus-built (not top-down) data systems

- Artificial intelligence systems that support the provider...help them decide more quickly on appropriate meds or interventions

- Better use of good apps that are evidence-based

- We have to change behavioral health training practices

- The ultimate goal is recovery and the well-being of the persons we serve

This discussion with Dr. Ron Manderscheid was taken from our show Netsmart CareThreads. If you want to hear more episodes like this one, check us out on Apple Podcasts here.

If you don’t use Apple Podcasts, you can find every episode here.

Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for CareThreads in your favorite podcast player.

Every dollar lost to fraud, waste, or abuse is a life impacted negatively.

Kristy Pyles, Principal at In Your Corner Consulting, LLC, joined Hannah Patterson on this episode of Netsmart CareThreads to talk about implementing electronic visit verification (EVV).

Kristy designed and implemented an EVV solution which was the first in the United States to achieve CMS certification using the Outcome Based Approach. This design can help providers, states and EVV vendors avoid bumps in the road and have a positive impact on the people they serve.

What we discussed with Kristy:

- The challenges related to implementation of EVV

- Tips and best practices for a successful EVV launch

This discussion with Kristy Pyles was taken from our show Netsmart CareThreads. If you want to hear more episodes like this one, check us out on Apple Podcasts here.

If you don’t use Apple Podcasts, you can find every episode here.

Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for CareThreads in your favorite podcast player.

Comic books have been popular with teenagers for generations. Hoping to both educate and entertain teenagers, Centerstone, a Tennessee-based behavior health provider, developed a comic book series featuring a variety of important topics.

Ashleigh Hall, Grants Marketing Manager at Centerstone, joined Keith Boushee on this episode of Netsmart CareThreads to talk about how her team created a series of comic books to successfully deliver mental health messages to teens.

After receiving a grant from the Department of Health and Human Services (DHSS), Centerstone decided to lay the foundation for bringing Spark, the main character, to life. They hired illustrators who specialize in comic books to bring the series to life. Spark tackles controversial topics in the series including:

- Sex messaging

- Bullying

- Under-age drinking

- Opioid issues

- Depression

- Online safety

Since launching the series in 2014, over 60,000 books have been distributed. By including discussion prompts at the end of each book, the books can be used in a classroom setting. Centerstone hopes to bridge the gap between parents and children as well as show these issues can affect everyone, everywhere. The series has also been popular in schools with many counselors and principals helping to distribute the comics.

In partnership with Centerstone, we are giving away 50 sets of the six-book series. Go to https://pages.ntst.com/Centerstone-Podcast-LP.html and enter to receive free comic books!

This discussion with Ashleigh Hall was taken from our show Netsmart CareThreads. If you want to hear more episodes like this one, search Netsmart CareThreads on Apple Podcast.

Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for CareThreads in your favorite podcast player.