The Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) is an important state resource for many of our clients. Once an individual qualifies for OPWDD, they are eligible to receive supports for living a full life in our community. With each new client seeking guidance with OPWDD eligibility, their path and goals are as unique as their treatment plan and life plans are.
One of the most fulfilling aspects of our practice is helping connect clients with the services they need – services that will stay with them and provide comfort and support to those families.
I have seen OPWDD do this for many families.
My patients find me on their own and use their insurance plans or fee for service to be treated.
If they become qualified for OPWDD, they have a new menu of options for care. Once someone has OPWDD, they can receive health insurance and a care coordinator to connect them with providers for the services they need – it can even assist with transportation to appointments.
If a newly qualified OPWDD patient wants to continue with my practice, they had to stick with the payment channels they were using pre-OPWDD (e.g., Excellus, Aetna, or fee for service).
This has always bothered me.
The whole point is to get people the services they need. Once they have those services, they should be able to use them. So I spent the last year trying to figure out how to continue to see clients with OPWDD, using their OPWDD benefits for services. And, I finally learned of a solution… a new partnership with Presence Developmental Services. Here is a bit about them:
Presence Developmental Services and Presence Counseling Services are clinician owned and operated companies that were developed to provide Behavioral Support, Physical Therapy and Social Work services to Individuals with Developmental Disabilities in their homes and other community locations.
Presence Developmental Services allows us to see patients with OPWDD in our offices with our providers. The patient, their family, and the care coordinators can all work directly with our staff to receive therapy and services we already offer. They simply have to go through the referral process with Presence – easily found on their website – and request our practice. The referral can come from the patient, a family member, or even the care coordinator.
And, if transportation is an issue, we have gone through the process of making sure our office is recognized by the medical transport options available to persons with OPWDD. There is also a new program that Megan and I recently learned about called Go Monroe! that helps people with disabilities access transportation solutions. You can find out more information by going to reaching out to Maritza Cubi at Starbridge (mcubi@starbridgeinc.org or 585-224-7327).
I am excited to offer a creative option for people who have OPWDD.
Our newest provider, Megan Benham, is accepting patients through Presence Developmental Services; you can request her specifically in your referral. If you have any questions, you can contact our office at admin@bryanharrisonphd.com. I also encourage you to contact Presence directly; their staff is friendly, responsive, and eager to help connect you with services.
We’re proud to be the first psychology practice to partner with Presence and hope to welcome clients who now have OPWDD in order to serve even more individuals in the community.