Lebanon County seeking ways to control mental health care costs

March 26--The rising cost of providing mental health services is putting a strain on Lebanon County's Mental Health/Intellectual Disability/Early Intervention Office, and its administrators are looking for advice in finding ways to run the agency more efficiently.

At last week's county commissioners meeting, Holly Leahy, Director of Mental Health Services for MH/ID/EI, explained that most of the agency's services are paid for through the state-run HealthChoices Program, which funds services received by individuals on Medical Assistance.

The state recently increased its reimbursement rate, Leahy said, but not enough to cover the disparity between costs and revenues, and the county will have to make up the difference.

"Really what we do is link, access, and monitor services and support for the individuals to help them be successful in the community, and to be successful in their recovery," she said. "There is always a great need to those in our community. The costs are really associated with the staff and benefits. We have not increased our staff. We have maintained our staff while maintaining services to all those who are seeking the services."

The agency's internal reviews have found cost savings but it is time for an independent expert analysis, and HealthChoices has given the agency up to $11,875 to fund a "Root Cause Analysis," Leahy said. The study will be done by Susan Signore-Smith, a managed behavioral health care consultant, and will not require a county match, she said.

"We really do feel the Root Cause Analysis, in the end, is an investment in the overall health of the Targeted Case Management program," she said.

In other business last week, the county commissioners:

Approved Lebanon County Emergency Management Agency's application to the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency for a $10,500 Hazardous Materials Preparation Grant that will be used to catalogue that hazardous materials that move through the county on its roads and rails.

The work will be done by MCM Telecommunications Consulting Group which has done previous consulting work for EMA and is currently working on a shared-resources study to identify ways Lebanon's emergency communication's system could work more efficiently with surrounding counties.

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