Market Education

Comparison of TIER and CARF Behavioral Health Care Standards

Sequest Technologies has many clients that are accredited by CARF. These clients want to be sure that use of TIER® can facilitate achievement and maintenance of compliance with the CARF Standards for Behavioral Health Care. The CARF standards are organized according to seven functional categories. These include:

Organizational Leadership and Responsibilities

Organization Management

Quality Improvement

General Program Standards

Core Program/Specific Populations

Employment/Community Services

Network Administration/Access Center Standards

The CARF standards address three essential leadership responsibilities: planning, management, and control. Organizations are expected to implement both long-range and annual operational planning processes that encompass the seven categories of standards. To assist organizations with the development of their operational planning processes, the TIER® Workflow System manual is designed to be linked with related portions of the organization’s Annual Operational Plan. The manual addresses service delivery, human resources, environmental management and quality management. In addition, plan outlines are provided for development of the Health and Safety requirements of CARF.

Organizations are also expected to establish operational management activities to implement their planning requirements. These activities include policies and procedures, various record systems, minutes and reports related to implementation of the CARF standards. To support the planning and management processes, organizations also must establish a comprehensive and systematic process to measure and evaluate organizational performance. This process includes outcome measurement of services, goals, and objectives.

The TIER® Workflow System is a foundation software comprised of four modules and a billing accounts receivable package. Its design requirements target accreditation compliance as well as attention to “ease of use” for end users. TIER® Workflow is designed to help organizations achieve and maintain compliance with the CARF standards and to do so with minimal use of staff time. This is accomplished via TIER®’s multiple methods for data collection, analysis, and measurement related to service delivery, human resources, environmental management, and quality management modules.