For the fourth straight year, Sandhills Center has scored highest among its peer organizations on a variety of measures, according to a recently released survey commissioned by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS).
The annual survey gauged provider satisfaction among each of the state’s seven Local Management Entities-Managed Care Organizations (LME-MCOs), and was conducted in 2019 by an independent review organization on behalf of the NCDHHS.
The results were released in January 2020, and show that Sandhills Center scored as the highest LME-MCO on 10 of 23 questions, the most of any of the LME-MCOs. Sandhills Center was the only LME-MCO to have more than five questions scored as the highest.
Sandhills Center also scored at 91.9 percent for the question that rates overall LME-MCO satisfaction. Performance on that response was the highest of its peer organizations and was statistically higher than the overall state average of 88.9 percent.
This marks the fourth year Sandhills Center has received the most number of highest scores on the survey, and the fourth consecutive year the organization received the highest statewide score on the question judging the overall satisfaction with the LME-MCO.
In the 2019 survey, providers identified these areas where Sandhills Center excelled:
• Accessibility for information, referrals and scheduling of appointments.
• Response time for provider needs.
• Responsiveness to local community stakeholders.
• Informative, helpful training for information technology and provider network issues and keeping providers updated, as well as answering questions accurately.
• Addressing provider interests in Provider Council and provider satisfaction with the network.
• Offering informative trainings that meet the needs of providers.
Sandhills Center scored at or above the statewide average on 98.6 percent of the questions in the survey, the highest in North Carolina. There were no performance areas rated as the statewide minimum. Sandhills Center also had eight results that were statistically higher than the 2019 NC Overall result, and had no results that were statistically lower than the 2019 NC Overall result.
Sandhills Center manages public mental health, intellectual/developmental disabilities and substance abuse services in Anson, Guilford, Harnett, Hoke, Lee, Montgomery, Moore, Randolph and Richmond counties in central North Carolina. The organization strives to be responsive to its provider network in the areas of quality training and technical assistance, while offering accurate and prompt authorizations and payment for their work. The partnership between the LME-MCO and providers ensures that individuals and families within the nine-county region have access to quality care.
The 2019 NCDHHS Provider Satisfaction Survey results reaffirm Sandhills Center’s commitment to its network, while successfully implementing oversight and management of the behavioral health services in our region.
ABOUT SANDHILLS CENTER:
As a publicly-funded Local Management Entity-Managed Care Organization (LME-MCO), Sandhills Center acts as an agent of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services to manage a network of contracted private providers.
Sandhills Center partners with individuals, family members, service providers, policy makers and other community stakeholders to create, manage and support behavioral health services that meet the needs of our communities.
Sandhills Center is governed by a Board of Directors that includes representatives from each of the nine counties within the region. The Board of Directors provides oversight of programs, and ensures that quality of and access to services remains high throughout the region.
Sandhills Center can be reached at any hour of the day or night, including weekends and holidays. Callers can ask questions, talk with a licensed clinician and make appointments with service providers. The toll-free telephone number is 1-800-256-2452. Additional information can be found at: www.SandhillsCenter.org.
Contributed
