Tempe-based non-profit is selected to provide a new, statewide Arizona crisis phone line – The Arizona Republic

A Tempe-based non-profit company will be Arizona’s new provider of a single statewide phone line for mental health crises.

Solari Crisis & Human Services, a 15-year-old company, will be the new vendor, officials with both the state and Solari confirmed. 

Solari had voiced concern earlier this year that the contract selection process appeared unfairly tilted in favor of for-profit Missouri-based Centene Corp., but in the end, Solari was the company selected for the job.

The phone line will operate 24/7, every day of the year, starting Oct. 1, and will be responsible for initiating mobile team dispatch and tracking, and reporting disposition and outcome information, as appropriate, according to state specifications.

As with existing crisis services, the phone line will available to any Arizona resident, regardless of health insurance coverage.

The plan to select a vendor for a single statewide crisis phone line was created by the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, which is Arizona’s Medicaid program. The Arizona Republic published a story about Solari’s concerns over the vendor selection process on Feb. 7.

Two Centene plans among the three responsible for choosing a vendor

Solari had argued that Centene Corp. had an unequal advantage in the crisis line contract selection process that could have allowed the company to award the job to itself.

Solari CEO Justin Chase said Monday that by the time a “request for information” seeking bidders on the health line was issued Feb. 18, he was convinced  the potential problems with fairness that the company had raised had been addressed and that the process would be equitable.

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“Just after the story published we had meetings with each of the parties involved, got some additional information, got some reassurances from everyone involved,” Chase said. “By the release (of the RFI) we felt really comfortable with the way that the scoring process and selection process was going to be done.”

Two Centene health plans were among the three plans responsible for choosing the vendor. The third entity was Phoenix-based not-for-profit Mercy Care. The AHCCCS specifications called for those three contracted health plans to collectively choose a statewide crisis services phone vendor.

The three plans were responsible because come Oct. 1 they will be overseeing integrated physical and behavioral health services for AHCCCS members with a serious mental illness designation

The three contractors, known as Arizona Complete Care contractors with Regional Behavioral Health Agreements, or ACC-RBHAs, as of Oct. 1 will preside over three AHCCCS-designated geographic areas of Arizona: North, Central and South.

Two are Centene subsidiaries — Arizona Complete Health – Complete Care Plan and Care1st Health Plan.

A single, statewide crisis line will be an enhancement, Solari official says

As of Oct. 1, Arizona Complete Health – Complete Care Plan will oversee the South geographic service area, Mercy Care will hold the contract for Central Arizona, and Care1st Health Plan will oversee the North region.

Officials with the three contracted health plans told The Arizona Republic in February that they had joined forces to ensure a “transparent and fair evaluation process,” with Mercy Care having the same number of representatives on the review committee as Care1st and AzCH-CCP combined.

Mercy Care would have the same number of votes to select the vendor as the other two health plans combined, officials said.

The three ACC-RBHAs are expected to jointly negotiate a standard rate of reimbursement with the selected crisis phone vendor.

A single statewide crisis line is a service enhancement over having three separate, regional numbers, Chase said, and hopefully will have an easy-to-remember number, though no number has been announced.

“Bigger than the line is the collaboration and coordination with the community of providers that are in place,” Chase said.

“Arizona has built such a great network of behavioral health and community-based organizations for us to refer to and to help connect folks to ongoing care, beyond just addressing the crisis needs.”

Reach the reporter at Stephanie.Innes@gannett.com or at 602-444-8369. Follow her on Twitter @stephanieinnes

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