Novus Health Inc

RYAN WHITE TITLE III HIV CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT AND PLANNING GRANTS - NOVUS HEALTH IS A NON-PROFIT 501C3 CLINIC THAT HAS PROVIDED PRIMARY CARE, SPECIALTY CARE, TESTING, AND TREATMENT FOR PLWH FOR MORE THAN 30 YEARS. NOVUS HEALTH’S PROPOSAL IS APPLIED TO THE HIV CARE INNOVATION CATEGORY. THIS PROJECT SEEKS TO DEVELOP PROCESSES AND PROCEDURES FOR THE INTEGRATION OF MENTAL HEALTH AND PRIMARY CARE. FOR MANY YEARS, NOVUS HEALTH HAS BEEN IDENTIFYING THE SIGNIFICANT IMPACT MENTAL HEALTH HAS BEEN PLAYING IN HIV CARE AND TREATMENT PARTICULARLY FOR BLACK/AFRICAN AMERICAN MEN BETWEEN THE AGES OF 25-50. IN 2021, NOVUS HEALTH BEGAN THE PROCESS OF ADDING MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES TO ITS PRIMARY AND SPECIALTY CARE PRACTICE AND IN 2023 PLANS TO INTEGRATE PSYCHIATRIC CARE. WITHOUT THESE SERVICES, CONTINUED BARRIERS TO CARE AND TREATMENT REMAIN. THESE BARRIERS IMPACT BOTH ENGAGEMENT IN AND RETENTION IN CARE AND AS SUCH ULTIMATELY IMPACT VIRAL SUPPRESSION RATES. IN OUR EFFORTS TO INTEGRATE MENTAL HEALTH INTO ITS ALREADY EXISTING PRIMARY CARE SERVICES, NOVUS HEALTH CARE TEAMS NEED TO DEVELOP WRITTEN PROTOCOLS THAT WILL GUIDE PRACTICES AND ENSURE THAT THIS INTEGRATION WILL RESULT IN BETTER HEALTH OUTCOMES FOR PLWH. A KEY TO THIS INTEGRATION IS DEVELOPING POLICIES AND PROCEDURES THAT WILL ESTABLISH GUIDELINES FOR THE CLINICAL STAFF TO COORDINATE AND INTEGRATE THESE TWO AREAS. WITHIN THIS PROPOSAL, NOVUS HEALTH WILL ESTABLISH SIX KEY POLICY AREAS INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING, 1) ASSESSMENT STANDARDS, 2) REFERRAL TO CARE PROCESS, 3) CARE PLANNING PRACTICE, 4) TREATMENT GUIDELINES, 5) CRISIS INTERVENTION PLANS, AND 6) RETENTION PLANNING. IN ADDITION, ACCESS TO NEW ELECTRONIC CLINICAL TOOLS AND TRAINING, INCLUDING CARE PLANNING SOFTWARE THAT CAN BE INTEGRATED INTO OUR CURRENT ELECTRONIC MEDICAL RECORD (ECLINICAL). THIS TOOL WILL BE UTILIZED TO ESTABLISH AND DOCUMENT CONSISTENT CARE PLANNING THAT INTEGRATES WITH PRIMARY CARE, PSYCHIATRIC CARE, MENTAL HEALTH COUNSELING, AND COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKER SUPPORT SERVICES. NOVUS HEALTH PROPOSES T O ESTABLISH A MINIMUM OF THREE WORKFLOWS THAT ALLOW EXPANSION OF THESE SERVICES NOT JUST TO CURRENT PATIENTS OF NOVUS HEALTH BUT TO ALL PLWH IN THE ST. LOUIS TGA. THESE WORKFLOWS WILL INCLUDE, 1) INTERNAL PROCESS FLOWS, 2) EXTERNAL RYAN WHITE PARTNER REFERRAL PROCESS FLOW, 3) A SELF-REFERRAL PROCESS FLOW. FINALLY, NOVUS HEALTH, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY BROWN SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK, WILL DEVELOP A CLIENT SURVEY AND CONDUCT PROGRAM EVALUATION FOR THE INTEGRATION OF PRIMARY CARE AND MENTAL HEALTH SERVICE DELIVERY. THE OVERARCHING GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO ESTABLISH A STRUCTURED, BEST PRACTICE INTEGRATION MODEL OF CARE THAT WILL PROVIDE INCREASED ACCESS TO BOTH PRIMARY AND MENTAL HEALTH CARE FOR PLWH WITHIN THE ST. LOUIS TGA, DECREASING MENTAL HEALTH EMERGENCIES, WHILE INCREASING THE ENGAGEMENT AND RETENTION OF PLWH IN ALL POINTS OF CARE AND TREATMENT. NOVUS HEALTH IS REQUESTING $67,297.00 TO DEVELOP 6 KEY POLICY AREAS, ADD ESSENTIAL SOFTWARE/PROGRAMING TO ITS ELECTRONIC MEDICAL RECORD, PROVIDE CLINICAL TRAINING ON THE TOOLS AND POLICIES THAT LEAD TO INCREASED INTEGRATION OF MENTAL HEALTH AND PRIMARY CARE SERVICES, DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT WORKFLOWS FOR REFERRAL, INTAKE, ASSESSMENT.