NJAMHAA IT PROJECT
Professional Advisory Committee
Meeting Minutes
June 15, 2015
Attendees: Tina Cavalieri (Preferred Behavioral), Michelle Cavallaro (Twin Oaks), Guy Chastain (AAMH), Barbara Lindsey (TAI), Bill Maslak (CarePlus), Larry Reedy (TAI), Natalie Greene (Catholic Charities Trenton), Donna Borelli (Richard Hall), Dave Lacouture (New Bridge), Dana Deacon (FGCWC), Laura Kratz (Hunterdon Behavioral), Bob Marasa (Qualifacts Systems), Mahesh Phadhe (DMHAS), Mark DePazza (NJAMHAA), Ron Gordon (NJAMHAA), June Noto (NJAMHAA), Debra Wentz (NJAMHAA).
The meeting was called to order by June Noto, Director of the IT Project.
Minutes from the last meeting were presented and a motion to accept the minutes was made, seconded and approved.
June announced that the IT PAC Committee will have two co-chairs for fiscal year 2016. Tina Cavaliere from Preferred Behavioral and Teresa Gilroy from Cape Counselling.
A request for any additions to agenda was made. There were none.
The introductions and agenda were completed and Debra Wentz took the floor to contribute her CEO remarks. Making note that a FY2016 budget bill has been introduced by the state legislature, Debra requested that all individuals contact their representatives to make their opinions and suggestions known to them as all funds are at risk until the budget bill is signed into law by the Governor. Debra suggested that special attention be paid to supporting funding for technology and mental health and addiction services. Calling attention to the impending move to the Interim Managing Entity (IME), Debra reminded the participants that it will be a complex operation that will require a transition period. Lastly, Debra, noting that IT should not exist in a vacuum, invited all to participate in open NJAMHAA Board meetings and practice group meetings to present their input.
June Noto presented the quarterly report providing more detailed information to support the figures in the distributed report. Ron Gordon provided details on various free webinars and trainings provided by the IT Project. Future training options were discussed by Ron, June and participants. The subject of a new USTF portal was discussed and June provided details concerning its development and usage. Issues and procedures were identified by June and discussed among participants. Co-operation is encouraged in order to build a better product for clients and agencies. Continuing with the planned agenda, June briefly discussed CIMS and the co-chairs of the FY2016 IT Project PAC Committee. That was followed by a discussion on the subject of ICD-10, DSM-IV and DSM-5. Starting on October 1, 2015, while the nation moves to the ICD-10 and DSM-5 code sets, NJ-SAMS will be collecting data in DSM-IV, not DSM-5 format due to licensing issues that need to be resolved with the APA. June commented that agencies that have co-occurring clients must be able to submit data in ALL 3 formats. The USTF will use the ICD-10 code set.
Mahesh Phadhe, from DMHAS, discussed topics including: IME testing, training and go-live date; QCMR changes that are due next month; USTF progress; secure email developments and difficulties; BEDS and Service Capacity Management System to track available resources.
Michelle Cavallaro discussed the planned July 1st merger of Twin Oaks and Greater Trenton Behavioral Health that expanded into a discussion of mergers in the healthcare industry.
June discussed the use of Direct Messaging through subscriptions from NJHITEC to exchange PHI through secure protocol.
June thanked everyone for attending and calling into the meeting.
Next IT PAC Meeting – Monday September 28, 2015 10:30AM at NJAMHAA.
SAVE THE DATE: MARCH 2, 2016 – ANNUAL IT PROJECT CONFERENCE – PINES MANOR, EDISON, NJ