CoCM registry setup checklist

The checklist

1. Name the team. The treating practitioner who bills, the behavioral health care manager, and the psychiatric consultant. Decide who covers when someone is away.
2. Agree who enters the registry. Write down which patients qualify, for example a positive depression or anxiety screen that the treating practitioner judges needs Collaborative Care.
3. Record consent before the first billable minute. Note the date and how consent was given. For Medicare, documented verbal consent is enough.
4. Pick your rating scales and how often you repeat them. For example the PHQ-9 for depression and the GAD-7 for anxiety, with a baseline at enrollment and a repeat at least monthly.
5. Set up the registry fields. At minimum: enrollment date, care manager, baseline and latest scores with their dates, change from baseline, last contact, minutes this month, and whether the psychiatric consultant has reviewed the patient.
6. Define what "improving" means. Pick a target before you start. A common one is a 50 percent drop from the baseline PHQ-9 score as response, and a PHQ-9 under 5 as remission.
7. Schedule caseload review. Put a standing weekly review with the psychiatric consultant on the calendar, and bring the patients who are not improving first.
8. Log minutes as you go. Record care-manager time per patient per calendar month on the day it happens, with what the time was spent on. Minutes rebuilt from memory at month end are the ones that fail an audit.
9. Plan for the end. Agree when a patient leaves the registry, for example after sustained remission, and what relapse prevention looks like.
10. Close each month. Check every patient's minutes against the billing thresholds, fix gaps while they are fresh, and produce the billing documentation. See CoCM billing codes explained.

Why a spreadsheet registry breaks

Most programs start in a spreadsheet. It works until the caseload grows: scores go stale, nobody sees who has not been contacted, and minutes live in separate notes. The checklist above is the same whatever tool you use; the difference is how much of it you have to remember by hand.

Where Asendar™ fits

Asendar keeps the registry, a Today list of who is due, PHQ-9, GAD-7 and PCL-5 follow-ups, psychiatric consultant review requests, and care-manager minutes per patient per month, and produces a monthly billing packet as CSV and PDF. Billing decisions remain the clinic's responsibility.

Common questions

What is a CoCM registry?

A list of every patient in the Collaborative Care program with their rating-scale scores over time, last contact, care-manager minutes and consultant review status, used to follow up proactively and to make sure no one is missed.

Which rating scales should a CoCM registry use?

Validated scales that match the condition, most often the PHQ-9 for depression and the GAD-7 for anxiety, with a baseline at enrollment and regular repeats.

How often should the psychiatric consultant review the caseload?

Most programs hold a standing weekly review, starting with patients who are not improving.

Can a spreadsheet be a CoCM registry?

Yes, many programs start that way. The work it has to support is the same: current scores, contact dates, minutes per month and consultant review.

Source

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Behavioral Health Integration Services (MLN909432). Medicaid and commercial payers set their own rules, which can differ from Medicare's. Check your payer before you bill. Billing decisions remain the clinic's responsibility.