ASAM Level of Care Certification
Due to the growing focus on quality in the healthcare industry, including the treatment of substance use disorder (SUD), residential treatment programs have an opportunity to establish a foundation of quality and creditability for their efforts to improve addiction treatment by earning the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) Level of Care (LOC) certification. With this certification, residential treatment programs can establish themselves as high quality SUD providers and ensure future program licensing and funding from states, and private and public payors continues to be available.
A leader in quality and accreditation, HMA is a select ASAM partner, chosen to provide technical assistance and usher programs through the certification process as well as help address shortfalls and gaps in programs and care.
The ASAM LOC certification demonstrates a provider’s capacity to deliver a specific Level of Care and is separate from, but complements, Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) accreditation. ASAM has partnered with CARF to independently assess and verify the ability of residential providers to deliver services consistent with the levels of care described in the ASAM Criteria®.
As residential treatment facilities (RTFs) embark on this new ASAM LOC certification process, it will require knowledge and resources that will likely present challenges for the staff, providers, and executive leaders. HMA can help.
Our team of quality, certification, accreditation, behavioral health (BH), and SUD experts have the experience, know-how, and capabilities to provide technical assistance in preparing for, and successfully achieving, this certification. HMA colleagues are well positioned to help RTFs navigate the initial certification and carve a path forward by providing highly tailored and customized approaches and service packages to meet specific client needs.
To prepare for the certification, HMA will help programs:
» Assess administrative and organizational structure
» Assess staffing and resources
» Assess policies and procedures, screening tools, documentation, referral sources
» Update policies and procedures, structure, staffing and resources if necessary
» Assess quality improvement processes
» Assess human resources practices
» Deliver staff competency trainings
In addition, HMA’s full-service healthcare consulting team can help organizations address gaps identified in the certification process and improve care by providing services including:
| STRATEGIC PLANNING |
| CLINICAL PROGRAMMING |
| OPERATIONS IMPROVEMENT |
| REVENUE CYCLE |
| PAYOR CONTRACTING |
Our team has been trained and approved by ASAM to guide clients through the certification process and help build better systems of care and accountability from the ground up, including developing policies and procedures, consulting on legislative priorities, and writing and updating SUD administrative code for states.
Contact our experts
Rachel Johnson-Yates
Associate Principal
