Projects & Impact

AHP has built its business on applying best practices, many of which we have helped to shape, and real-world, hands-on knowledge to improving systems and business practices for our clients.

In all of the work that we do, we are guided by our mission to improve health and human services systems of care and business operations to help organizations and individuals reach their full potential.

Search Projects by Category

Select items in one or more of four categories to find relevant project types:

Something went wrong please try again later.

Colorado Office of Behavioral Health Needs Assessment

The Colorado Office of Behavioral Health (OBH) selected a team led by Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) Mental Health Program to conduct a needs analysis and scan of existing and promising behavioral health models. AHP worked with the WICHE team, which included NASMHPD Research Institute (NRI), to complete 17 tasks. AHP assessed:

Olmstead v. L.C. legal decision considerations in the provision of state psychiatric beds;
integration of behavioral health and physical health care;
impact of marijuana legalization and prescription drug misuse on CO OBH service needs;
impact of state drug sentencing reform on CO OBH service needs; and
state approaches to support employment and housing for mental health consumers.

The work on tasks included a literature review, environmental scan, key informant interviews, focus groups, and analysis of existing state-level data. A report was prepared for each task and combined into a comprehensive report that included recommendations for Colorado’s OBH.

Related resources and publication:

Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education Mental Health Program, National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors Research Institute, and Advocates for Human Potential. (2015). Colorado Department of Human Services Office of Behavioral Health Needs Analysis: Current Status, Strategic Positioning, and Future Planning.

Agency:
Colorado Office of Behavioral Health (OBH)

Project Director:
- View Bio

Impact:
The results of this work helped the Colorado OBH to strategically position itself and to plan behavioral health services in a rapidly changing health care environment.

Redesigning the Substance Use Disorder Treatment Continuum of Care in Los Angeles County

AHP is working with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health Substance Abuse Prevention and Control (SAPC) to support the county in developing a state-required plan to opt into the Drug Medi-Cal Organized Delivery System (DMC-ODS) Waiver for adult and adolescent populations. The waiver expands treatment and recovery services and creates a continuum of care for individuals diagnosed with a substance use disorder (SUD).

In partnership with the SAPC leadership and other key stakeholders, AHP is developing the financing formula and the organizational and staffing infrastructure that will support the DMC-ODS. To fully develop the architecture and financing recommendations, AHP is analyzing similar systems, studying rate setting methodologies, providing comprehensive data analysis, evaluating financial formulas, cross-walking ASAM levels of care with standardized code sets, and gathering information on managed care financial operations. AHP will also provide recommendations for a cost-effective training plan to develop the staffing capabilities and readiness for implementation of the new system.

Agency:
Los Angeles County Department of Public Health Substance Abuse Prevention and Control (SAPC)

Project Director:
Patrick Gauthier, B.A. - View Bio

Impact:
This project is the first of its kind in California and is of interest to many other states considering similar waiver programs. Success will be measured by the establishment of a continuum of care for SUD treatment and recovery services that integrates all revenue streams into a single benefit package, along with a final, negotiated SUD specialty health plan (per user per month) financial rate with the state.

The Intersection of Violence Against Women and HIV/AIDS: A Cross-Training Guide for Service Providers Office of Women’s Health

AHP received a grant from the Office of Women’s Health (OWH) to research, revise, and then implement a pilot cross-training program for community domestic violence and HIV/AIDS agencies in four cities across the United States to enhance their services to vulnerable, abused women who were either infected or at risk for HIV/AIDS. By educating each agency on the subject matter of the other agency and encouraging collaboration between them, AHP’s goal was to ensure that no matter how the woman entered the system for services, whether through the domestic violence or HIV/AIDS door, both issues would be addressed. After recruiting the requisite service agencies in cities in four states, revising the five-part curriculum and developing presentations, AHP conducted web-based and onsite trainings, including joint sessions with both agencies. The project included a final report that will empower OWH to roll out a national training program.

Agency:
Office of Women’s Health (OWH)

Project Director:
- View Bio

Impact:
Participant feedback was very encouraging, as exemplified in the following typical comment: “This training and the ability to talk to staff from the other agency really demonstrated the intersection between serving people with HIV/AIDS and DV survivors.”