Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Plymouth (BID-Plymouth) is the recipient of a $3.7 million grant from the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission (HPC) to improve community-oriented care for patients with complex social and medical needs, and to increase access to high quality behavioral health services through Phase 2 of the Community Hospital Acceleration, Revitalization, and Transformation (CHART) Investment Program. BID-Plymouth received one of the largest awards of any single community hospital in Massachusetts.

The grant will support BID-Plymouth’s efforts to improve access to services for complex patient populations through the formation of a high-risk care team, embedding behavioral health practitioners in our Emergency Department and primary care offices. The grant will also help BID-Plymouth to establish outreach teams for community education and outpatient substance abuse treatment, with the goal of reducing emergency department, inpatient, and skilled nursing facility utilization, and suicide/overdose attempts for the dual eligible and behavioral health populations.

“This investment shines a light on the state’s behavioral health system, breaking down the stigma associated with behavioral health,” says BID-Plymouth President Peter Holden. “The HPC grant allows us to provide individuals and families in our region struggling with mental health and substance abuse to have the same access to high-quality care as those with physical health conditions.”

The HPC awarded $60 million to community hospitals in Massachusetts to help transform the delivery of care. BID-Plymouth received one of the largest grants and is one of only three community hospitals on the South Shore to receive a CHART grant.

“We are grateful to the Health Policy Commission and their recognition of our efforts to improve the health and well-being of complex patients—those struggling with medical and behavioral health needs,” says James Fanale, MD. Additionally, we now have the financial means to tackle how we identify and treat those with behavioral health and substance abuse issues in an attempt to reduce the opioid epidemic in the region.”

Phase 2 of the CHART Program invests in high-impact initiatives focused on driving health care system transformation and incentivizing community hospitals to be ready for participation in alternative payment models and accountable care. Recognizing the diversity of community hospitals across the Commonwealth, CHART Phase 2 is intended to accelerate the transformation of eligible hospitals through a focus on maximizing appropriate hospital use, enhancing behavioral health care, and improving hospital-wide processes. These actions are intended to drive better alignment of community hospital services and capabilities with the health and health care needs of the communities each hospital serves.

What is CHART? Established through the Commonwealth’s landmark cost containment law, Chapter 224 of the Acts of 2012, CHART is a $120 million reinvestment program funded by an assessment on large health systems and commercial insurers that will make phased investments for certain Massachusetts community hospitals to enhance their delivery of efficient, effective care. CHART hospitals share the common characteristics of being non-profit, non-teaching, and having relatively lower prices than many other hospitals. The goal of the program is to promote care coordination, integration, and delivery transformations; advance electronic health records adoption and information exchange among providers; increase alternative payment methods and accountable care organizations; and enhance patient safety, access to behavioral health services, and coordination between hospitals and community-based providers and organizations.

About BID-Plymouth
Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Plymouth is a not-for-profit organization serving 12 towns in Plymouth and Barnstable Counties. BID-Plymouth is part of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center family of hospitals. Established in 1901 as Jordan Hospital, BID-Plymouth is a full-service, 155-bed acute care community hospital accredited by The Joint Commission, the College of American Pathologists, the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer, and the American College of Radiology. www.bidplymouth.org