Access Levels: Crisis Stabilization and Intermediate Care

CIGNA is committed to providing excellent service and quality of care to our membership. To further these goals, we have implemented crisis stabilization services to provide different access levels based on the member's needs. We would like to take this opportunity to share our vision of these services with you.

Crisis Stabilization 24/7 Access:
Crisis Stabilization 24/7 represents an active intervention whereby a member can be seen for a crisis appointment within six (6) hours with a primary goal of stabilization. This particular access level is targeted to those practitioners who are interested in crisis stabilization services and are also available to CIGNA clinical staff after-hours for the purpose of coordinating a crisis intervention. In addition to an active intervention, the appointment can also include, if clinically necessary, a same day psychiatric consultation. It is expected the active intervention be conducted by a licensed mental health professional, the key elements being to assess, stabilize and proactively identify the most appropriate level of care for the member at that time.

Crisis Stabilization Non-24/7 Access:
Crisis Stabilization Non-24/7 it targeted to those practitioners who may have an interest in crisis stabilization services, but may not wish to be contacted after-hours by care management staff. Practitioners under this access level will remain available Monday thru Friday from approximately 8am to 6pm. All other crisis stabilization guidelines described above are still applicable.

Intermediate Care Access:
Intermediate Care is a level of intervention that provides precautionary and preventive care to a member who presents with a level of acuity that if not addressed within 48-hours, could escalate to a higher level of care. The goal of our Intermediate Care network is to successfully link complex cases with practitioners who have the clinical expertise to manage specific diagnoses/problems for ongoing treatment. The referral and authorization process for this level of care is very similar to crisis stabilization services. Whereas the purpose of Crisis Stabilization is to stabilize the member, with Intermediate Care, the primary goal is to connect the member with a practitioner that has the necessary expertise to handle the case on a continuing basis. A care manager will authorize services for this level of care under procedure code 90808.

Any provider interested in signing up for these services should contact your regional Network Development Specialist. They will provide you with the required attestations for completion.

We Want To Hear From You
If you have topics you'd like to see addressed here please let us know. Contact us at NetworkDevelopment@cigna.com and we'll dig into them. We want this brief to be as informative and insightful as possible and to address topics important to our practitioner community.