News
Strategies to Secure Health Care Provider Contracts Focus of ACL Meeting
- By: USAging
- On: 11/12/2015 11:27:57
- In: Hot Topics in Aging
Last week, members of the ACL Business Acumen Learning Collaborative gathered to share strategies for securing contracts with health care organizations by offering service packages that provide one-stop access to an array of Aging & Disability Networks' services and supports.
The Collaborative is made up of 11 ACL-selected networks—geographically dispersed from California to Vermont and from Indiana to Tennessee—each comprised of AAAs and other CBOs that receive technical assistance in such areas as pricing, contracting and marketing.
“In the ten months since we joined the Collaborative, we've had a major mind shift from focusing on who we are now to thinking about who we want to be,” said Teresa Arnold, Executive Director of the Aging and Disability Resource Consortium of the Greater North Shore in Massachusetts. “To be successful in the health care marketplace, you must have a solid plan, speak the language and be prepared to seize opportunities—in other words, act like a business to attract business,"Arnold went on to note.
Another Collaborative member, Aging and Long Term Care of Eastern Washington, already has contracts with MCOs, but wasn't well positioned for future opportunities because they lacked a robust IT system. “Thanks to the Collaborative, we will have our own IT system in place in the next few months because their guidance helped to shorten the learning curve,” said Pearl Bouchard, the agency's CLC Manager.
n4a has worked closely with ACL to develop an MLTSS and Integrated Care Resource Center that provides AAAs with the tools to secure contracts with integrated care providers and to sustain those relationships over the long haul.
“Members of the Collaborative have not only proven they can land new contracts, they've shown that they can generate a sustainable revenue stream because they gather data, assess the impact of their work and demonstrate a value proposition that is rock solid,” said Mary Kaschak, Senior Program Manager of n4a Planning and Capacity Development.