Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 12, March 22, 2024
a) The
Center shall develop collaborative relationships with other health care
providers and insurers/managed care entities and have a written linkage
agreement with MCEs whose enrollees are served by the school-based/linked
health center. At a minimum, the agreement must include:
1) outline of the services provided and the
role of the Center;
2) description
of the processes and procedures for coordinating student care; and
3) description of the mechanisms for
exchanging key medical and outcomes information with the MCE and a student's
primary care physician (PCP), while maintaining confidentiality, including:
A) written policies addressing student and/or
parental consent to share student health care information in order to
coordinate care with the MCE or PCP;
B) payment mechanism.
b) Policies and procedures should
be in place to assure communication and exchange of key medical
data/information between the Center and a student's MCE and PCP to effectively
coordinate care.
1) Policies should describe
how service and/or procedure duplications will be avoided (e.g., particular
efforts to coordinate the provision of health maintenance and preventive
care/testing).
2) Procedures should
describe how medical data/records are shared with the PCP and MCE, while
adhering to confidentiality regulations.
3) Processes should be in place to assure
medical information is exchanged on an agreed upon schedule and on an as needed
basis (i.e., monthly for routine visits/care and at the time of care, by phone
or fax, for urgent or emergency situations).
4) Procedures should be in place to allow
immediate access to shared data in the case of emergencies or urgent
situations.
5) Policies should be
developed and agreed to by both the Center and the MCE regarding the format and
types of data to be exchanged in coordinating care.
c) The Center must develop a systematic
process for referring students to their assigned PCP for referral for
specialist care when the Center is not able to provide the services required by
the student.
1) The Center should work with
the MCE and PCP to develop a mechanism for linking referral information,
student health care information and outcomes of the referral between the Center
and PCP.
2) The Center will
document and provide the PCP with agreed-upon referral background information
(e.g, reason for referral, onset of symptoms).
3) The Center will develop procedures to
document and share with the MCE/PCP outcomes of follow up care, where
appropriate.
4) MCE/PCP will
develop a mechanism for sharing the outcomes of any referrals.
d) The Center will work with the
MCE and/or PCP in targeted outreach efforts (i.e., for services that the Center
is able to provide).
1) The Center will
collaborate with the MCE in developing mechanisms to conduct outreach for the
student population (e.g., immunizations, health education, prenatal
care).
2) The Center will develop
procedures for collecting and sharing with the MCE/PCP information provided as
a part of the outreach program (e.g., forwarding immunization data).
3) The Center and the MCE/PCP will
collaborate on evaluating outcome data.
e) Each Center shall define its relationships
with external organizations, designate staff responsibility for key functions,
and appoint a primary contact to maintain open lines of communication with each
organization. Key external agencies and organization may be:
1) community agencies, including local health
departments, mental health agencies and social service agencies; and
2) health plans or community
clinics.