PUBLICATIONS |
WAITING FOR DMA REPORTS The Division of Medical Assistance (DMA) and its contractors have allowed the public a peak at how the privatization venture has fared. Data on the impact of privately managed mental health care has been limited and released in an untimely manner. In July 1997, the legislature mandated that the DMA and DMH commissioners submit quarterly reports to the Ways & Means committees on the performance of the Partnership. The quarterly reports were to include information on utilization trends, quality of care and costs across all service categories, and type of care purchased.(1) The first report was due October 1997, but was not submitted until June 1998.(2) This report contains incomplete data from the first and second quarters of FY98. The report itself provides cursory information that does not allow for trend analysis. For example, utilization data lumped together all categories of recipients(3) and did not provide a monthly breakdown, but only two quarterly summations. Trend analyses were outdated copies of reports from January 1998. The seven-day recidivism rate was reported only through October 1997, although more recent data should have been available at the time of the legislative report's preparation. Continuing care information was provided only through June 1997. And although the legislature's language mandating the reports is for the commissioners of the Departments of Mental Health and Medical Assistance to report on the Partnership's performance, the document provided includes no analysis from the commissioners, but rather duplicates reports and analyses of the Partnership itself. Mental Health Legal Advisors Committee has made numerous requests for information and received little cooperation from DMA.(4) For instance, an August 6, 1997 request was not fulfilled until almost two months later, and then only partially; expenditure reports were not provided until October 1997. Likewise, recent requests for expenditure data have met the same fate. On April 3, 1998, in response to a request
from members of the Behavioral Health Program Advisory Council, DMA agreed to provide copies of monthly utilization
cost reports. On April 8, 1998, two members followed up with a written request to DMA for utilization data through
the first half of FY98. At a May 1, 1998 of the Council's data subcommittee, DMA said the information would be
sent within a couple of weeks. The data for FY97 was not mailed to the members until May 29, 1998, almost two months
after the initial request. Furthermore, despite repeated requests and promises, the data for the first half of
FY98 was not provided until August 11, 1998, more than four months after the initial request. Indeed, 12 members
of the Council sent a joint letter to DMA stating, "We do not feel that we can adequately perform our function
of advising DMA on the behavioral health program if we do not have basic information as to its operation."(5) |