Meridian HealthCare, AmeriHealth Caritas Ohio Team Up to Provide Innovative Pain Management Programs
July 25, 2023 - Youngstown, Ohio
Meridian HealthCare and AmeriHealth Caritas Ohio are teaming up to provide innovative chronic pain management solutions to Medicaid enrollees in the Youngstown area. The pilot program, which will begin this summer at Meridian’s Youngstown and Warren sites, will focus on behavioral health and medication-free treatment for chronic, non-cancer pain in primary care settings for AmeriHealth Caritas Ohio members ages 18 and older.
AmeriHealth Caritas Ohio will initially identify patients for the program. Individuals who have been diagnosed with any of the following may be eligible: back pain, neck and shoulder pain, radiculopathy, fibromyalgia, spinal stenosis, degenerative disc disease, myalgia/myositis, joint pain, arthritis, sciatic nerve pain or arthralgia.
“This new relationship aims to improve the quality of life for those with chronic pain, which can be debilitating,” said Lawrence Moliterno, president and CEO of Meridian HealthCare. “We’re eager to collaborate with AmeriHealth Caritas Ohio on this exciting, much-needed initiative designed to help people receive comprehensive care tailored to their needs so they can live their best life.”
The program will be offered in two formats: pain self-management education (PSME) and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). Both formats are available virtually and in-person.
The PSME format will be held in four 90-minute group sessions or in four 45-minute individual sessions. The ACT format will be held in eight 90-minute group sessions or eight to twelve 60-minute individual sessions. Both programs will be available at no-cost to eligible AmeriHealth Caritas Ohio members.
Laurie Greco, Ph.D., AmeriHealth Caritas Ohio’s medical director of behavioral health, will train and support Meridian clinicians who facilitate this new program within Meridian HealthCare.
“We are excited to work with Meridian clinicians and together empower AmeriHealth Caritas Ohio members living with pain to learn new ways to improve their functioning and quality of life,” said Greco. “The program concept started with listening sessions, where we met with providers across the state to learn more about the barriers and opportunities for integrating behavioral health clinicians into primary care settings. These conversations were so valuable. They helped us identify chronic pain as a priority area for primary care-behavioral health integration.”
In addition to helping patients improve outcomes with earlier interventions, the program also takes a value-based approach to paying providers for the type of work they are doing.
“We found that AmeriHealth Caritas Ohio and Meridian had shared priorities related to integrated care, evidence-based treatments, and innovative payment models,” said Mark Grippi, AmeriHealth Caritas Ohio CEO and market president. “This program changes the model by supporting quality over quantity and rewarding behavioral health outcomes over activities.”
