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Mental Health Contracts Based On Performance Possible

thehumanservicecenter.org

A consultant has been hired to help the three-county Human Service Center develop outcome-based contracts for local counseling providers.

Board President Bill Korrer said Center staff contacted the three partner counties about getting a pay hike for providers, something Korrer says hadn't been done for a long time...

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"....we've had the rates frozen for a number of years now, and a lot of the smaller providers haven't had the luxury of a rate increase...."

The county boards approved an increase of more than a half-million dollars for rate increases to providers. Korrer says a second part of the increase was to work up a contract with outside providers that is performance based...

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"....an attempt to have a set of standards that will be able to produce measurable results so we can essentially 'grade' the contractors and see if we're getting the best bang for our buck because we are using taxpayer funds for this...."

A consultant has been hired to develop the new contracts. Korrer says the goal is to work with the current contract and find language to move it toward outcome-based contracting.

The Human Service Center provides mental health services for Oneida, Vilas and Forest counties. Korrer says any changes that are approved will be for 2015.

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