Louisiana Care Authorization Management System
As the Louisiana Behavioral Health Partnership has been retired and Medicaid specialized behavioral health services have been integrated into Bayou Health as of December 1, 2015, the Louisiana Department of Health's Office of Behavioral Health (OBH) has assumed utilization management functions for the uninsured population receiving behavioral health services at the levels of care listed below only by implementing the Louisiana Care Authorization Management System (LaCAMS). For guidance and direction of any other level of care, please contact your local governing entity.
OBH will conduct medical necessity determinations for initial authorizations and continued stay reviews for acute inpatient treatment, substance use disorder residential treatment, intensive outpatient (IOP) treatment and assertive community treatment (ACT) services for the uninsured at the levels listed below.
|
Level of Care |
|
ASAM Level III.5 Adult (21 and over) |
|
ASAM Level III.5 Youth (13-20) |
|
ASAM Level III.7 |
|
ASAM Level III.7D |
|
ASAM Level IV Hospital/Inpatient Detox |
|
Inpatient Psych Adults (21 and over) |
|
Inpatient Psych Youth (0-20) |
|
Intensive Outpatient Treatment |
|
Assertive Community Treatment |
Acute Inpatient Treatment and Substance Use Disorder Residential Treatment Services
Depending on the type of service, authorization requests may be submitted via phone or email. Please follow the guidance below to submit initial requests for authorizations and continued stay reviews. There have been several scheduling and programmatic changes as the program evolves. For a summary of those changes, please refer here.
Call the LaCAMS toll-free number:
Phone: 844.412.4966
Hours: 8:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. Monday - Friday
To assist providers in preparing before calling for authorizations, OBH has created a list of questions that providers will be asked for acute psych and SUD residential initial authorizations and continued stay reviews over the phone. CLICK HERE
To prevent the number of calls from surging over LDH response capacity and to ensure a timely response by our care managers, callers are asked to adhere to the authorization request schedule listed below based on their location/affiliation with a local governing entity or other provider.
| Local Governing Entity | Call Window for Authorizations |
|---|---|
| Central LA Human Services District Providers | 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. |
| Jefferson Parish Human Services Authority Providers | 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. |
| Imperial Calcasieu Human Services Authority Providers | 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m |
| Acadiana Area Human Services District Providers | 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. |
| Northwest LA Human Services District Providers | 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. |
| Florida Parishes Human Services Authority | 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. |
| Capital Area Human Services District Providers | 12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. |
| Metropolitan Human Services District Providers | 12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. |
| Northeast Delta Human Services Authority Providers | 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. |
| South Central LA Human Services Authority | 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. |
| EXCEPTIONS | |
| ALL DETOX PROVIDERS (ASAM Level III.7D or IV) | Daily from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. |
| ALL ACUTE PSYCH HOSPITAL PROVIDERS | Daily from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. |
| ALL ACT and IOP Providers | LaCAMS.ACT.IOP@la.gov |
Please send discharge information, Medicaid approvals/denials, questions, comments, or concerns to LaCAMSmemberservicerep@la.gov.
Initial Authorization Request Forms
- ACT Initial Authorization Request Form (Revised 7.1.16)
- IOP Initial Authorization Request Form (Revised 7.1.16)
Continued Stay Review Request Forms
- ACT Continued Stay Review Request Form (Revised 7.1.16)
- IOP Continued Stay Review Request Form (Revised 7.1.16)
For any other questions regarding this OBH program, please call: 844.412.4966
Additional guidance and information will be released as the program evolves.