More Stringent Member Contact Standards Needed For Texas Medicaid STAR+Plus Managed HCBS Plans

A quality review of the Texas Medicaid STAR+PLUS plans that included home-and community-based services (HCBS) found a need for more stringent standards regarding the frequency and means of contact between service coordinators and members. Additional standards are needed because the quality review for plan year 2012 found that members often do not know how to reach the service coordinator assigned to them. New standards could include in-home visits by service coordinators, proactive telephone contacts on a monthly or quarterly basis, or the use of telehealth technology to ensure that service is patient-centered. The STAR+PLUS . . .