Use of North Carolina Medicaid Collaborative Care Billing Codes After Statewide Approval for Reimbursement

Effective October 2018, North Carolina Medicaid approved reimbursement for collaborative care model (CoCM) billing codes. From October 2018 through December 2019, only 915 of the estimated two million eligible Medicaid beneficiaries had at least one CoCM claim, and the median number of claims per patient was two. Availability of reimbursement for CoCM Medicaid billing codes in North Carolina did not immediately result in robust utilization of CoCM. Furthermore, the low median number of claims per patient suggests lack of fidelity to CoCM. A better understanding of barriers to CoCM implementation is necessary to expand utilization of this evidence-based model.