Provider Advisory Council

Quality Care - Provider Advisory Council Participant Selection Process

APS Healthcare strongly promotes provider involvement and participation in the Maine ASO Behavioral Health Utilization Review program. The purpose of the Quality Care - Provider Advisory Council is to advise APS Healthcare and makes recommendations regarding improvement to the ASO program on an ongoing basis. The Quality Care – Provider Advisory Council will meet on a regular basis throughout the year.

It is the intent of both APS and DHHS that membership of the Provider Advisory Council be representative of Maine communities statewide, and reflect the diversity of service-types within the provider community. This process is intended as a guideline for establishing and maintaining participation in the council. If circumstances dictate, this process may be modified.

The council will meet quarterly or more often if needed. Meetings will be held at a variety of locations statewide in order to make meetings accessible to all participants.

Those interested in joining the Council, should notify the APS Provider Relations Manager; Kelly Bickmore, LCSW - email: kbickmore@apshealthcare.com.
A list of interested parties will be maintained by APS Healthcare.
DHHS and APS Healthcare will choose members of the Quality Care - Provider Advisory Council.
Maximum provider membership of the Council will be 16.
Whenever possible, two Provider representatives will be selected from each CSN/District area.
Participants will be selected so that the overall membership of the council is reflective of Adult MH, Children’s MH, Child Welfare, Substance Abuse, Community-Based, Residential and Hospital Services.
Each Provider agency/hospital can maintain only one seat on the council, even if they provide a variety of services in one or more area of the state.
Participation in the Council will typically be a 1 year commitment. During the initial startup it will be necessary to stagger terms so that the council does not experience complete turnover on an annual basis. To this end one member from each CSN/District area will be asked to serve a 1 year term while the other will be asked to serve an 18 month term. Thereafter all appointments will be for a one year term.