LONG BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SCAN Health Plan recently sponsored a behavioral health skills training program to help health plan and medical group staff members improve care for people suffering from depression and anxiety. The two-day, comprehensive training at SCAN’s headquarters in Long Beach, Calif., was led by experts from the University of Washington’s AIMS Center (Advancing Integrated Mental Health Solutions).
Participants included the health plan’s case managers as well as staff members from some of California’s most prominent medical groups, including AppleCare Medical Group, HealthCare Partners, Hill Physicians Medical Group, Meritage Medical Network, Monarch HealthCare and SCAN’s Special Needs Plan for end-stage renal disease members, VillageHealth. Continuing education credits were provided by SCAN at no cost to participants.
“Through programs like this we hope to improve the quality of healthcare delivered to not only SCAN members but to all seniors in the community,” said Eve Gelb, senior vice president of healthcare services for SCAN Health Plan. “Working together with our provider partners, SCAN’s goal is to make a significant impact in the area of senior care in the communities we serve.”
The program emphasized the importance of collaborative care, a patient-centered approach that treats common mental conditions in primary care and other familiar settings where people are already comfortable. Specific topics included screening for anxiety disorders and how to identify the cycle of depression as well as the role of medication therapy.
This training is the latest in SCAN Health Plan’s long commitment in the area of continuing education for physicians, nurses and social workers caring for older people. Every year, for example, the health plan joins with UCLA Academic Geriatric Resource Center and the California Geriatric Education Center to sponsor the Leadership and Management in Geriatrics Conference, which brings together healthcare professionals to discuss creative approaches to better caring for America’s expanding senior population.
SCAN Health Plan is one of the nation’s largest not-for-profit MAPD plans currently serving 170,000 members in California and Arizona. Further information may be obtained at scanhealthplan.com or on Facebook at facebook.com/scanhealthplan.
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