Streamlining State Reporting for Behavioral Health Providers


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Challenge: 

Colorado established the Behavioral Health Administration (BHA) on July 1, 2022. It was designed to centralize mental health and substance use services, and address the longstanding “administrative burden” plaguing providers. By implementing digital-era technology and data systems, providers could reallocate time from manually reporting of data back toward client care.  

Solution: 

The effort was herculean, and required transforming BHA's technology ecosystem from one of the worst in the nation to one of the most elite. To shoulder this lift required recruiting digital-era experts. Enter two team members from the Colorado Digital Service (CDS), Janell Schafer-Cody and Stephanie Cain, who came in on the ground floor in August of 2021, and alongside BHA policy experts, they laid the financial, operational, and strategic groundwork that led to the establishment of one America’s leading digital service teams. 

Image of BHA and CDS teams celebrating

Today, this CDS team is embedded alongside 60+ BHA and OIT staff, and contractors and vendors and have supported the recruitment efforts for these individuals. Examples of the exceptional talent recruited to the BHA’s mission include:

  • The City of New York’s former Deputy Chief Technology Officer and Associate Chief Technology Officer
  • Designers who previously worked at Google and Facebook
  • A Diversity, Equity and Inclusion expert
  • A member of the Drupal Security Team
  • Individuals with data and product management experience fields ranging from Public Health to Fintech, and SaaS solutions

Impact

  • Leading-edge interoperability: Launched Colorado’s first “Data Lakehouse”; this is a cutting edge technology and privacy-first approach to data management that enables interoperability and real-time data dashboards. It allows for analysis between disparate sources, which was previously hard if not impossible. Moved from manual database change management to version control, thousands of automated tests, automatic deployment, and alerting, leading to better security, consistency, and reliability.
  • User-centered product solutions: Delivered a search and matching tool for providers searching for suitable inpatient and residential services for their clients; this work was informed by co-design and feedback sessions with 472 providers across Colorado.

 

  • Transparency and accountability: Launched Colorado’s first public-facing data transparency platform, Performance Hub; this work enhances transparency, accountability, and community involvement in government operations in behavioral health.

     

Key Learnings:

  • Just add talent: starting with embedded teams can force multiply impact, generate momentum, and act as a center of gravity to attract best-in-class talent.
  • Get to MVP, ASAP: Deploy outstanding talent on dedicated product teams; focus on getting user-centered products launched, and use an evidence-based approach to iteration and scale
  • Do it The Right Way: It’s worth the time ensuring software follows design and engineering best practices from the start.
    • Security
    • Accessibility
    • Mobile-friendly
    • User research and usability testing
    • Version control
    • Continuous integration and deployment (CI/CD)
    • Automated testing
    • Infrastructure as code
    • Documentation