Quality Assurance Training

Welcome to Quality Assurance’s Training Page! Here you will find the most up to date information on trainings provided by QA including handouts and registration. Please check back regularly for additional training opportunities from QA.

Registration is required for all trainings except where noted

• January: January 10th, 2025
• February: February 14th, 2025
• March: March 14th, 2025
• April: April 11th, 2025
• May: May 9th, 2025
• June: June 13th, 2025
• July: July 11th, 2025
• August: August 8th, 2025
• September: September 12th, 2025
• October: October 10th, 2025
• November: November 14th, 2025
• December: December 12th, 2025

Brown Bag Series for Substance Use Disorder Providers

Who should attend: Alameda County Behavioral Health (ACBH) providers, Quality Assurance Lead Staff, Directors, Managers and Supervisors Description: This is an open forum. The meeting allows ACBH Quality Assurance staff to share information about new or upcoming changes to processes and policies that impact the providers. It is also an opportunity for providers to get clarification about existing processes related to Medi-Cal and ACBH requirements. Dates and Times: 3rd Thursday of each month from 12-1 p.m. June's meeting will be the 4th Thursday of the month due to the Juneteenth holiday. Disclaimer: Due to privacy concerns, use of AI technology is not allowed in these meetings. Sessions: January: January 16th, 2025 February: February 20th, 2025 March: March 20th, 2025 April: April 17th, 2025 May: May 15th, 2025 June: June 26th, 2025 (June's meeting will be the 4th Thursday of the month due to the Juneteenth holiday.) July: July 17th, 2025 August: August 21st, 2025 September: September 18th, 2025 October: October 16th, 2025 November: November 20th, 2025 December: December 18th, 2025 Microsoft Teams meeting Join on your computer, mobile app or room device Click here to join the meeting Meeting ID: 255 128 436 015 Passcode: RCa5EG Download Teams | Join on the web Or call in (audio only) +1 415-915-3950,,266439585# United States, San Francisco (888) 715-8170,,266439585# United States (Toll-free) Phone Conference ID: 266 439 585# Find a local number | Reset PIN Learn More | Meeting options SUD Brown Bag Meeting Notes: This document is a running list of topics discussed during the SUD Brown Bag sessions. The document can be sorted by date or topic for easy reference. View/Download Notes - 5/15/25 SUD Brown Bag Questions: View Questions SMHS Timely Access Reporting Requirements and New Timely Access Data Tool (TADT) E-form Who should attend: This training is required for all clinical and administrative team members who are involved in tracking timeliness data. Description: The Quality Assurance (QA) Division will be providing two live training sessions to review the Timely Data Reporting requirements and tool. Dates and Times: Wednesday, December 18, 2024, 3 p.m.- 4 p.m. Click here to register. Monday, January 13, 2025, 11 a.m. - 12 p.m. Click here to register. Recorded Presentation Presentation Slides     Intensive Care Coordination, Intensive Home-Based Services and Therapeutic Foster Care Who should attend: This training is for clinical staff from Alameda County Behavioral Health (ACBH) Contracted Agencies and County Clinics and Programs rendering Specialty Mental Health Services (SMHS) who serve children and transition age youth (0-21). Description: The purpose of this training is to review the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) requirement for individualized determination of each child/youth’s need for Intensive Care Coordination (ICC), In Home Based Services (IHBS) and Therapeutic Foster Care (TFC), and the revisions made to the ACBH assessment template to support agencies with completing this requirement. Offered: May, 2024 Register here. Recorded Presentation Presentation Slides     Transition of Care Tool Who should attend: Specialty Mental Health Service providers Description: This training describes the purpose of the Transition of Care Tool and the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) requirements related to the tool. Offered: April 2024 Presentation Documentation Best Practices Description: Review of basic documentation best practices and the concept of collaborative documentation. Offered: November, 2023 Register here. Recorded Presentation Presentation Slides No Wrong Door CalAIM Training Child & Young Adult Provider Training Who should attend: Community-Based Organizations, ACBH Contracted Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Provider Staff and Community Members Description: In this training you will have an opportunity to learn how beneficiaries have increased access to SMHS under California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM). Offered: October, 2023 Register here. Recorded Presentation Presentation Slides Adult & Older Adult Provider Training Who should attend: Community-Based Organizations, ACBH Contracted Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Provider Staff and Community Members Description: In this training you will have an opportunity to learn how beneficiaries have increased access to SMHS under California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM). Offered: September, 2023 Register here. Recorded Presentation Presentation Slides Clinician’s Gateway Substance Use Disorder (SUD) SmartCare Transition Who should attend: Clinicians Gateway SUD Users Description: The intended audience is any SUD user from managers to clinical staff. Hour one will repeat the overview of CG-SmartCare Updates presented in June 2023. Hour two will cover next steps for your organizations, helpful hints for users, and FAQs. Offered: October, 2023 Recorded Presentation Clinician's Gateway-SmartCare Updates Who should attend: All ACBH Specialty Mental Health Service (SMHS), Drug Medi-Cal Organized Delivery System (DMC-ODS) that use Clinician's Gateway Description: Some fields in CG were updated to align with SmartCare effective July 1, 2023. Information Systems Support will demo the changes during the following training sessions. All sessions are the same. One will be recorded and posted for future reference. Offered: October, 2023 Register here. Recorded Presentation Presentation Slides - Updated 10/29/23 Application Programming Interface (API) and CG Potential Harm Field Description: Review of 1) The new requirement by the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), established in BHIN 22-068, for Behavioral Health Plans to implement and maintain secure, standards-based Patient Access and Provider Directory APIs. 2) Review of the new Potential Harm Field in Clinician's Gateway . Offered: October, 2023 Register here. Recorded Presentation Presentation Slides Fee For Service Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) Code Training Who should attend: All ACBH Fee for Service (FFS) providers Description: The CalAIM Payment Reform initiative, rolling out on July 1, 2023, changes the way most providers claim for services, requiring the use of CPT codes in many instances. The training is a review of some of the changes related to this initiative, as well as basic concepts relevant to the use of CPT codes. Offered: September, 2023 Register here. Recorded Presentation Presentation Slides Clinical Documentation Standards for Adult & Crisis Residential Specialty Mental Health Services Who should attend: ACBH Adult and Crisis Residential Program Clinical Staff Description: This training covers the regulations for Adult and Crisis Residential Specialty Mental Health Services programs governing the authorization process with Utilization Management and clinical documentation standards. Offered: July, 2023 Adult Residential Crisis Residential Recorded Presentation Recorded Presentation Presentation Slides Presentation Slides Register here. Register here. Current Procedural Terminology Who should attend: All ACBH Specialty Mental Health Service (SMHS), Drug Medi-Cal Organized Delivery System (DMC-ODS) and Fee for Service (FFS) providers Description: The CalAIM Payment Reform initiative, rolling out in July 1, 2023, changes the way most providers claim for services, requiring the use of CPT codes in many instances. The training is a review of some of the changes related to this initiative, as well as basic concepts relevant to the use of CPT codes. Offered: May, 2023 Register here. On Demand Video Presentation MH SmartCare Procedure Code Table Eff. 7-1-2023 - Updated 4/12/24 SUD SmartCare Procedure Code Table Eff. 7-1-2023 - Updated 8/2/23 Progress Note Template Demo for Mental Health Providers Who should attend: ACBH Specialty Mental Health Service (SMHS) providers who utilize Clinician’s Gateway (CG) Description: To align with new CalAIM documentation requirements, two new Progress Note templates (standard template and TCM Care Plan template) were created for SMHS providers. The training is a demo of these two CG templates. The presentation will be recorded. Offered: May, 2023 Register here. Recorded Presentation Treatment Plan Note Training/Demo for Substance Use Disorder Providers Who should attend: Substance Use Disorder (SUD) providers that receive SAMHSA Substance Abuse Block Grants (SABG) Description: SUD providers that receive SABG are required to create treatment plans for beneficiaries. As SABG Treatment Plan requirements are simpler than those previously established by DHCS, the SUD Treatment Plan template in CG was revised, removing the DHCS required elements and aligning the fields with the SABG requirements. The training is a demo of the new template. Offered: May, 2023 Register here. Recorded Presentation Day Rehabilitation & Day Treatment Intensive Program Standards & Documentation for Specialty Mental Health Providers Who should attend: Specialty Mental Health Day Rehabilitation and Day Treatment Intensive providers Description: The training is an overview of the program components that have been established by Department of Health Care Services for Day Rehabilitation and Day Treatment Intensive programs, authorization requirements and process, documentations standards and claiming exceptions relevant to these programs. Offered: April, 2023 Register here. Recorded Presentation Presentation Slides Clinical Quality Review Team (CQRT) for Outpatient Mental Health Providers Who should attend: ACBH contracted providers rendering outpatient Specialty Mental Health Services, including contracted agencies, Fee for Service providers, County clinics and programs This training is not for Fee for Service Providers; please see this page for more information. Description: All ACBH providers and agencies are required to comply with the ACBH CQRT process. This training will provide an overview of the CQRT process and required forms. Th forms and process were recently revised to comply with the new CalAIM requirements related to Criteria for Access and Documentation Reform. Offered: January, 2023 Register here. Recorded Presentation Presentation Slides CQRT Questions/Answers from Training CQRT Process and Forms- Outpatient Specialty Mental Health Services For additional CQRT resources, see Section 8 of the QA Manual Clinician’s Gateway Substance Use Disorder (SUD) Template Updates Who should attend: ACBH Substance Use Disorder service providers, including Quality Assurance (QA) Leads, Clinical Supervisors and clinical staff Description: To minimize documentation redundancy and comply with CalAIM documentation requirements, a number of templates were updated or new templates were created in Clinician’s Gateway. The training is a review of the following new or updated CG templates: Diagnosis Form, Assessment Full ASAM, Assessment Full ASAM Update, Assessment Full ASAM Adolescent, Assessment Full ASAM Adolescent Update. The training will be recorded. Registration is not required for this training. Offered: January, 2023 Register here. Recorded Presentation Presentation Slides     Care Coordination in Residential Programs for Substance Use Disorder Providers Who should attend: ACBH Substance Use Disorder service providers, including Quality Assurance (QA) Leads Description:: This training highlights what constitutes case management services (now referred to as care coordination) in SUD residential programs and describes details related to billing for these services. The training is provided by the ACBH Quality Improvement team as part of a Performance Improvement Project. Offered: December, 2022 Register here. Recorded Presentation Presentation Slides Timely Access Data Collection for Substance Use Disorder Providers Description: To ensure that the Drug Medi-Cal Organized Delivery Systems (DMC-ODS) provide timely access to care and services, Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) requires each DMC-ODS Plan to have a system in place for tracking and measuring timeliness of care. This requirement applies to all requests for substance use disorder (SUD) services across the continuum of care. This training is an overview of the requirements and the new and revised templates that should be completed in Clinician’s Gateway to capture timely access data collection. Both training sessions cover the same content. Please note that Registration was NOT required for these training sessions. Offered: November & December, 2022 Register here. Recorded Presentation Presentation Slides     Unusual Occurrence Policy Training for All Providers of Behavioral Health Services Who should attend: ACBH Specialty Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder service providers, including Quality Assurance (QA) Leads, Clinical Supervisors and clinical staff Description: This training will provide information related to what constitutes an Unusual Occurrence, recent updates to the UO policy involving changes to the internal QA process for investigating UO reports, and the revised UO Notification form. Offered: May, 2022 Presentation Slides     Clinical Documentation for Short-Term Residential Therapeutic Program (STRTP) Contracted Service Providers Who should attend: Providers contracted to provide Specialty Mental Health Services (SMHS) at Short-term Residential Therapeutic Programs (STRTPs). Provider QA leads, clinical supervisors, and clinical staff are all strongly recommended to attend. Description: In accordance with the Department of Healthcare Services (DHCS) Interim STRTP Regulations (Version 2), this training will address ACBH & Medi-Cal documentation standards for STRTPs, including mental health assessment, admission statement, treatment plan, progress note, as well as transitioning determination plan requirements. The training will also address recent changes under the Family First Prevention Services ACT (FFSPA) as they pertain to STRTPs. Offered: April, 2022 Register here. Recorded Presentation Presentation Slides Short-Term Residential Therapeutic Program (STRTP) Medication Review Short-Term Residential Therapeutic Program (STRTP) Non Prescribed Medication Review Short-Term Residential Therapeutic Program (STRTP) Transition Determination Plan Short-Term Residential Therapeutic Program (STRTP) Admission Statement     Understanding Your Audit Results and Next Steps for All Providers of Behavioral Health Services Who should attend:ACBH Specialty Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder service providers, Quality Assurance (QA) Leads, Clinical Supervisors and clinical staff Description: The purpose of this training is to assist providers in better understanding their individual audit reports and exhibits. Additionally, it will describe how to create effective Corrective Action and Quality Improvement Plans. Offered: March, 2022 Register here. Recorded Presentation Presentation Slides         Evaluation and Management Training for Qualified Health Professionals, Quality Assurance Coordinators, and Billers Who should attend: ACBH Medical Providers: Psychiatrists (MD, DO), Clinical Nurse Specialists (CNS), Nurse Practitioners (NP), Physician Assistants (PA) and Clinical Pharmacists (CP); QA Coordinators; and Billers Description: Effective January 1, 2021, the American Medical Association’s (AMA) CPT® Professional Manual is changing the requirements for selecting the “E/M Office, or Other Outpatient, Services” (CPT® Codes 99201 – 99205, and 99211 – 99215) and other related topics. Offered: January, 2021 Register here. Recorded Presentation Presentation Slides E/M Documentation & Auditing Training Resources E/M Services Guide: Coding by Key Components: AACAP E/M Progress Note Examples: Office, Established Client: AACAP Templates: E/M Progress Note Template: Based on the Elements E/M Documentation Based on the Elements: Auditing Tool Instructions for E/M Progress Note Template: Counseling & Coordination of Care E/M Progress Note Template: Counseling & Coordination of Care     NOABD Determination for Medi-Cal Beneficiaries Description: The training decks are an overview of what constitutes a Notice of Adverse Benefit Determination (NOABD) and the process for issuing them across the Children, Adult and Drug Medi-Cal Organized Delivery systems. Offered: June, 2019 Presentation Substance Use Disorder Treatment: SUD Treatment Children's Treatment: Children's TX Adult System of Care: TX Clinical Documentation Training for Substance Use Disorder Treatment Who should attend: Organizations that have a contract to provide Substance Use Disorder (SUD) services. Description: Addresses ACBHCS & Medi-Cal documentation requirements for SUD treatment providers. Training Offerings Forthcoming