NNews March 2026

8 March 2026 NJAMHAA’s Expert Partners Share Advice for Copingwith Impending Medicaid Cuts continued frompage 7 Collaboration between Hospital- and Community- based Providers Is Equally Critical Hardwirewarmhandoffs from ED and inpatient psychiatric units to community services (e.g., schedule community appointments and arrange transportation to them before a patient is discharged from a hospital). Create a single post-discharge fast lane for peoplewithhigh- level needs (e.g., individuals with serious mental illnesses and/or substance use disorders). Co-design stepdown capacity (e.g., shared protocols for crisis stabilization; initiation of medication-assisted treatment [MAT]; mobile response). UseCertifiedCommunity BehavioralHealthClinics as a backbone for same-week access coordination. “ In a constrained funding environment, hospital-based and community-based providers need partnerships beyond just referrals,” Williams stated. BothWilliams andDuck stressed that more thanwarmhandoffs are needed. “Referrals and connectionsmust bemuchmore purposeful, focused onwhat the providers are trying to achieve. With strong collaboration and a system for handling these patients, the systemwill bemore successful,” Duck said. Duck reinforced that fact that hospitals do not want people who are not emergent being frequent flyers in ED’s. “With aspects of the Affordable Care Act coming to an end, more people will go to ED’s. The systemmust anticipate a short-term flood,” he added. “Share operations if possible because systems cannot absorb greater ED use,” Williams advised. “Hospitals also don’t want frequent re-admissions because they’re penalized financially for these. There’s an opportunity to create integrated networks that are clinically driven. These need to be structured properly. Williams noted that HMA has workedwith hospitals and community-based provider systems to build integrated networks and shared several practical strategies: They need to be provider led, not finance led,” Duck said. “Many provider organizations don’t knowhow to structure this, so they shouldwork with third parties like OPENMINDS to learn fromwhat was done in the past and replicate that. Success leaves clues – don’t waste time andmoney reinventing something successful.” Share staffingand training: Jointly train staff on de-escalation techniques and suicide-care pathways; consider on-call arrangements and other areas where systems can partner. Measurewhatmatters together: Agree on fivemetrics (e.g., EDhours for behavioral health needs; seven- day follow-up; 30-day readmissions; access toMAT) and demonstrate the impact these have – both positive and negative – on these systems. Explore opportunities for partnerships on shared workflows and shared accountability. continued on page 9