Our first NSI project was the largest at the time, involving 8 organizations. They all were involved in healthcare in the Long Beach area, and acknowledged that there was significant overlap in the population they were providing care for. Mental Health America was our lead organization, with two other mental health providers, focused on specific populations also involved. We began with two primary care providers, which ultimately became one- The Children’s Clinic. Finally, we had a housing provider, whose patients were seen by these organizations. We brought to the group recent experience in forming an OHCA- an Organized Health Care Arrangement, to which a patient consents to the range of organizations (excluding the housing provider) for care. This allowed the providers to discuss patients been seen by multiple organizations, reduce duplication of orders and prescriptions and provide a true medical home. Second phase of this project looked to find a way to share their various medical records, allowing the group direct access. Another experience was with Street Poets and Wolf Connection- two organizations focused on supporting youth via therapeutic interactions- either with poetry or wolves. While initially, the founding ED for Street Poets saw himself leaving and having the two organizations merged, he became reinvigorated during the process and decided to remain active, while still collaborating. Furthermore, our investigation into the cost of workers compensation for the merged organization made the potential for merger infeasible for a minimum of three years.
