Children and Youth TN Health Link Care Coordination for TennCare Members

Children and Youth TN Health Link is a voluntary partnership between the child, the parents, and the Care Coordinator designed to improve the child's social, educational, emotional, and behavioral situations. This service provides advocacy, referral, linkage and direct support to families. Care Coordinators provide services within the natural environment of the child and family, including home, school, and community. TN Health Link services build upon the strengths of each family in an effort to empower the child and the family to achieve their stated goals. Care Coordinators teach new coping skills, assist in the development of behavior management plans and provide a crucial link between families, schools and other community agencies in an effort to assure mental health stability for children.

Additionally, through better coordinated behavioral and physical health services, the program is meant to produce improved child and youth outcomes and flexibility as it relates to the delivery of appropriate care for each youngster. As a Health Link provider, Ridgeview is committed to ensuring the best care setting for each child, offer expanded access to care, and improve treatment adherence. The program is built to encourage the integration of physical and behavioral health for a more holistic approach to care coordination.

What is Tennessee Health Link?

Tennessee Health Link is a team of Ridgeview professionals who provide whole-person, patient-centered, coordinated care for its members with behavioral health conditions. Children and youth who would benefit from Health Link will be identified based on diagnosis, health care utilization patterns, or functional need.

Ridgeview's Health Link professionals will use various care coordination and client engagement techniques to help members manage their health care across the domains of behavioral and physical health, including:

  • Comprehensive care management (e.g., creating care coordination and treatment plans)
  • Care coordination (e.g., proactive outreach and follow up with primary care and behavioral health providers)
  • Health promotion (e.g., educating the patient and his/her family on the importance of healthy diet, quality sleep, and exercise)
  • Transitional care, as necessary (e.g., participating in the development of discharge plans)
  • Patient and family support (e.g., supporting adherence to behavioral and physical health treatment)
  • Referral to social supports (e.g., facilitating access to community supports including scheduling and follow through)
  • Teach families new coping skills, assist in the development of behavioral management plans and provide a crucial link between families, schools, other community agencies, therapists, psychiatrists, and primary care providers in an effort to improve overall mental and physical health for children.

How is Tennessee Health Link different from Level 2 Case Management?

Health Link is intended to include many of the activities associated with Level 2 Case Management, including patient check-ins and the provision of high-touch supports to enable treatment adherence. In addition, the Health Link care model involves a greater emphasis on coordination between the member’s physical health and behavioral health. Health Link providers will have more flexibility than ever before to support their members in the most effective ways, including through collateral contacts with family and health care providers. Health Link also rewards providers for focusing on patient recovery, including independent living skills development.

To learn more about your child's eligibility, please contact Amy Olson at 865-482-1076.