Optum Idaho Donates $200,000 to Increase Mental Health Care Access Statewide

Key Facts

BOISE, Idaho--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Optum Idaho, the managed care organization for the state of Idaho’s Medicaid behavioral health plan and part of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), has awarded $200,000 to the University of Idaho’s Project ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) aimed at increasing mental health care access statewide for adults, children and families.
“We’re grateful for the commitment of Optum Idaho to improve care for patients by inviting all medical and behavioral health perspectives to the conversation about mental health care access,” said Project ECHO Idaho Director Lachelle Smith.
“ECHO Idaho provides a unique evidence-based, multidisciplinary platform to connect with health care teams around the state that address and provide support for the increased behavioral health concerns that we are seeing,” said Dr. Christopher Streeter, medical director and pediatric psychiatrist at St. Luke’s Children’s Center for Neurobehavioral Medicine in Boise, who currently facilitates the Pediatric Autism series of ECHO Idaho trainings.
Optum Idaho has partnered with the state Division of Medicaid to operate the Idaho Behavioral Health Plan (IBHP) since 2013, and offers outpatient behavioral health treatment services for more than 373,000 Medicaid members through a network of more than 2,000 trained clinicians and providers across the state.