New York Initiating “People First Care Coordination”

In a recent communication from New York’s Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD’s), Acting Commissioner Kerry Delaney announced the “next major step in the evolution of the OPWDD system beginning with a five-year effort that will start a new era of opportunity for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.  This new initiative, called People First Care Coordination, will enhance and expand service coordination for people currently supported by a Medicaid Service Coordinator (MSC).

People First Care Coordination will add the coordination of people’s health and wellness services to their current developmental disabilities Individualized Service Plan (ISP), which will be known as a Life Plan.  Individuals currently enrolled in OPWDD services can have those services, plus those they receive from their dentists, physicians, behavioral health professionals and others, expertly combined into a single, integrated Life Plan which is overseen and monitored by their care manager.”

 According to the communication, the foundation of People First Care Coordination is Care Coordination Organizations (CCOs), authorized as Health Homes, which will be networks of existing OPWDD providers that will come together to provide integrated care coordination and work to transition MSCs into care manager roles.  CCOs will offer a professional Care Manager and a specialized care coordination team to work directly with each individual served and his or her family to address all of his or her needs.  The team and various service providers will be able to electronically share information and discuss an individual’s overall wellness and progress toward stated goals.  CCOs and providers will report to OPWDD on the outcomes they are helping individuals achieve.