NABH to Welcome SAMHSA Administrator Miriam Delphin-Rittmon, Ph.D. at 2021 Annual Meeting

Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use Miriam Delphin, Rittmon, Ph.D. will address attendees at the 2021 NABH Annual Meeting on Thursday, Oct. 7 at 1:30 p.m.
 
Dr. Miriam Delphin-Rittmon serves as administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). She previously served for six years as commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.

Prior to her appointment at SAMHSA, Dr. Delphin-Rittmon was an adjunct associate professor at Yale University, where she served on faculty for 20 years. At Yale, Dr. Delphin-Rittmon served as the director of Cultural Competence and Research Consultation with the Yale University Program for Recovery and Community Health.

In May 2014, Dr. Delphin-Rittmon completed a two-year White House appointment working as a senior advisor to the administrator at SAMHSA. In that position, she worked on a range of policy initiatives addressing behavioral health equity, workforce development, and healthcare reform.

Throughout her career in the behavioral health field, Dr. Delphin-Rittmon has extensive experience in the design, evaluation, and administration of mental health, substance use and prevention services and systems and has received several awards for advancing policy in these areas.

Please visit our Annual Meeting homepage to learn more about our speakers and register for the meeting, if you have not done so yet.

We look forward to seeing you in Washington!

Joint Commission Names HCA’s CMO Jonathan Perlin, M.D., Ph.D. as Next President

The Joint Commission’s Board of Commissioners this week named Jonathan Perlin, M.D., Ph.D. as the organization’s next president, effect March 1, 2022.

Perlin serves currently as president of clinical operations and chief medical officer of Nashville-based HCA Healthcare, where he leads a team of clinicians and data scientists in setting clinical and professional policy, implementing clinical data tools, and working to improve outcomes.

Before he joined HCA in 2006, Perlin served as the under secretary for health at the U.S. Veterans Affairs Department and later served as chair of the Veterans Affairs’ secretary’s special medical advisory group.

Perlin earned a master of science degree in health administration and a doctorate in pharmacology with his medical degree as part of the physician scientist training program at the Medical College of Virginia.

Joint Webinar to Present New Directions for Substance Use Prevention is Sept. 27

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the Partnership to End Addiction, and the American Psychological Association will host a webinar on Monday, Sept. 27 that will highlight how to establish a framework for an earlier and broad approach to substance use prevention.

Former NIDA Director Nora Volkow, M.D. will serve as one of the speakers during the presentation, which will also help participants learn how to implement an earlier and broader approach using today’s policy environment.

The webinar will begin at noon ET. Click here to register.

CMS to Host Webinar on Hospital Restraint and Seclusion on Sept. 28

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will host a webinar titled “CMS Hospital Restraint and Seclusion: Navigating the Most Problematic CMS Standards and Proposed Changes” on Tuesday, Sept. 28.

Webinar instructor Laura Dixon served as director of facility patient safety and risk management and operations for COPIC, a professional medical liability insurance provider, from 2014 until 2020. Dixon will lead the webinar, which will define the CMS restraint requirement of what hospitals must document in internal logs if a patient dies within 24 hours with having two soft restraints on; describe that CMS has restraint-education requirements for staff; discuss specific items that must be documented in the medical record for the one-hour, face-to-face evaluation on patients who are violent or self-destructive; and more.

The hourlong webinar will begin at 1 p.m. ET on Sept. 28. Click here to learn more and register.

Please Nominate Members to the 2022 NABH Board of Trustees Slate of Candidates

Please help the NABH Selection Committee identify potential candidates for Board Chair-Elect and two Board seats that will become available in 2022.

The Selection Committee is particularly interested in identifying senior managers who represent the broad diversity within the NABH membership, including various levels of care, organizational structures, and size.

Please download a nomination form to share your recommendations of individuals you would like to see included in the single-slate ballot for 2022. Please attach a curriculum vitae (CV) for each individual you recommend. This will help the Selection Committee in its deliberations. You are welcome to suggest yourself.

Please return this form and candidates’ CVs to maria@nabh.org by Friday, Oct. 15, 2021.

Reminder: NABH Denial-of-Care Portal is Open to Members

NABH’s Denial-of-Care Portal is available for members to provide information about their experiences with managed care organizations that impose barriers to care through insurance-claim denials.

NABH’s Managed Care Committee worked for more than a year to develop the Denial-of-Care Portal as a way to collect specific data on insurers who deny care—often without regard for parity or the effects on patients.

This NABH member-only, survey-like tool allows users to add the name of a managed care organization, type of plan, level of care, type of care (mental health or substance use disorder), duration of approved treatment, duration of unapproved treatment, criteria used to deny a claim, and more.

The portal allows members to submit individual examples of claim denials or upload multiple entries via Excel. It also includes sections on appeals and physician participation. In time, the tool could be a valuable resource for the NABH team’s advocacy efforts.

Please e-mail Emily Wilkins, NABH’s administrative coordinator, if you have questions about the portal. 

Fact of the Week 

From 2014 to 2018, emergency department visits made by adults with alcohol and substance use disorders increased by 30%, while hospitalizations among patients with those disorders increased by 57%, according to a new study in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

For questions or comments about this CEO Update, please contact Jessica Zigmond.

HHS Provides More Information About Latest Covid Provider Relief Fund Announcement

The U.S. Health and Human Services Department (HHS) this week hosted a webinar to provide details about the department’s recent announcement that it is making available $25.5 billion in new Covid relief funding for providers.

The department also released some fact sheets, including one about the payment methodology for phase three funding, information about the application process and eligibility, and provider relief funding reporting requirements. These materials are posted on NABH’s Covid-19 resources page.

NABH Comments on 2022 Medicare Physician Payment Schedule & OPPS Proposed Rules

NABH this week sent comment letters to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) about two proposed rules for fiscal year 2022: the Physician Payment Schedule and Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System.

In the physician payment schedule letter, NABH provided an overview and statistics to support what behavioral healthcare providers have managed during the Covid-19 pandemic as the need for mental health and addiction treatment services continues to rise.

NABH strongly supported Medicare coverage of audio-only telehealth mental health services and opioid treatment program services; opposed the agency’s in-person requirement for coverage of telehealth for mental health services; opposed the CMS’ proposal to reduce reimbursement for behavioral health providers to implement budget-neutrality requirements; encouraged CMS to seek comments on reimbursing for contingency management services; and more.

Commenting on CMS’ hospital outpatient prospective payment system rule, NABH supported the agency’s proposals to use the 2021 calendar year reimbursement rates for partial hospital as the cost floor for 2022 rates and to use 2019 data to calculate the 2022 rates.

The association also recommended that CMS continue to cover partial hospitalization program services via audio-only telehealth.

“Our members are concerned that many of their more vulnerable patients are unemployed or under-employed and sometimes homeless and do not have access to video technology. Moreover, access to broadband service to support video and audio technology is often very limited in rural areas,” NABH’s letter said. “These regions also face the most severe shortages of behavioral healthcare providers— particularly PHP providers,” it continued. “Limiting coverage to PHP services via telehealth to video and audio technology will limit the utility of telehealth for reaching individuals that face the greatest barriers to accessing PHP providers.

Virtual Congressional Briefing Next Week to Highlight How Recovery Supports Save Lives 

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Administrator Miriam Delphin-Rittmon, Ph.D. will offer remarks at “Turning Policy Into Action—How Recovery Supports Save Lives,” a virtual congressional briefing on Tuesday, Sept. 21 at 2 p.m. ET.

Other speakers will include U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, M.D., Rep. Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.), Rep. David McKinley, (R-W.Va.), and leaders from some addiction and recovery organizations.

Click here to register.

Joint Webinar to Present New Directions for Substance Use Prevention is Sept. 27

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the Partnership to End Addiction, and the American Psychological Association will host a webinar on Monday, Sept. 27 that will highlight how to establish a framework for an earlier and broad approach to substance use prevention.

Former NIDA Direct Nora Volkow, M.D. will serve as one of the speakers during the presentation, which will also help participants learn how to implement an earlier and broader approach using today’s policy environment.

The webinar will begin at noon ET. Click here to register.

Reminder: NABH Denial-of-Care Portal is Open to Members

NABH’s Denial-of-Care Portal is available for members to provide information about their experiences with managed care organizations that impose barriers to care through insurance-claim denials.

NABH’s Managed Care Committee worked for more than a year to develop the Denial-of-Care Portal as a way to collect specific data on insurers who deny care—often without regard for parity or the effects on patients.

This NABH member-only, survey-like tool allows users to add the name of a managed care organization, type of plan, level of care, type of care (mental health or substance use disorder), duration of approved treatment, duration of unapproved treatment, criteria used to deny a claim, and more.

The portal allows members to submit individual examples of claim denials or upload multiple entries via Excel. It also includes sections on appeals and physician participation. In time, the tool could be a valuable resource for the NABH team’s advocacy efforts.

Please e-mail Emily Wilkins, NABH’s administrative coordinator, if you have questions about the portal.

2021 NABH Annual Meeting Hotel Cut-Off Date is Today!

Please be sure to reserve your hotel room today at the Mandarin Oriental Washington, DC for the 2021 NABH Annual Meeting. The hotel’s room reservation cut-off date is today, Friday, Sept. 17, 2021.

And please visit our Annual Meeting webpage to register for the meeting, learn about our speakers, and view the list of our exhibitors and sponsors.

We look forward to seeing you in Washington!

Fact of the Week

A new survey of 1,250 U.S. military veterans who served in Afghanistan sometime between the period 2001-2021 showed that 90% of those veterans with a history of mental illness are experiencing new or worsening mental health systems since the Taliban takeover in late August.

For questions or comments about this CEO Update, please contact Jessica Zigmond.

HHS Announces $25.5 Billion in Covid-19 Provider Funding

The Biden administration announced Friday that the U.S. Health and Human Services Department (HHS) is making available $25.5 billion in new funding for healthcare providers affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to an announcement, the funding—which HHS is making available through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)—includes $8.5 billion in American Rescue Plan resources for providers who serve rural Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), or Medicare patients, and an additional $17 billion for Provider Relief Fund (PRF) Phase 4 for a wide range of providers who can document revenue loss and expenses associated with the pandemic.

“This funding critically helps healthcare providers who have endured demanding workloads and significant financial strains amidst the pandemic,” HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said in the announcement. “The funding will be distributed with an eye towards equity, to ensure providers who serve our most vulnerable communities will receive the support they need.”

HHS also said that consistent with requirements included in the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2020, PRF Phase 4 payments will be based on providers’ lost revenues and expenditures between July 1, 2020 and March 31, 2021.

The combined application for American Rescue Plan funding and PRF Phase 4 will open on Sept. 29.

Biden Administration to Expand Vaccination Requirements for Healthcare Facilities

The Biden administration on Thursday announced it will require Covid-19 vaccinations for staff within all Medicare and Medicaid-certified facilities to protect both healthcare workers and patients from the deadly virus and its more contagious Delta variant.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) said it is developing an interim final rule with comment period that it expects to release in October.
“As the Delta variant continues to spread, we know the best defense against it lies with the Covid-19 vaccine,” CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure said in a news release. “Data show that the higher the level of vaccination rates among providers and staff, the lower the infection rate is among patients who are dependent upon them for care,” she continued. “Now is the time to act. I’m urging everyone, but especially those fighting this virus on the front lines, to get vaccinated and protect themselves, their families, and their patients from Covid-19.”

The NABH team will continue to learn more and keep members apprised of how the new rule will affect providers who work in psychiatric facilities and addiction treatment centers.

SAMHSA Awards $17.8 Million for Mental Health Awareness Training

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) announced it has released 145 awards totaling $17.8 million to help communities build mental health awareness among individuals who interact with people who experience or exhibit symptoms of a mental health disorder and refer them to appropriate services.

Each Mental Health Awareness Training grant recipient will receive up to $125,000 for the first year of this five-year grant program, which will train school personnel, emergency first responders, law enforcement, veterans, armed services members, and their families to recognize the signs and symptoms of mental health disorders, particularly serious mental illness and/or serious emotional disturbances, to respond safely and appropriately.

Click here to read the list of grant recipients.

NABH Sends Comments to CMS on Surprise Billing

In a letter to CMS this week, NABH highlighted the increased need for mental health and addiction treatment during the pandemic and asked the agency to mitigate the extent to which new surprise billing rules impose additional burdens on behavioral healthcare providers.

“Many psychiatric hospitals have negative net operating margins despite offering services that are in high demand in communities across the country,” NABH said in its letter about CMS’ requirements related to surprise billing. “The Covid-19 pandemic has added to the strain on these facilities with additional financial losses and unexpected costs, including those related to greatly increased use of personal protective equipment, increased screening of individuals coming into the facilities with additional staffing needs for screening, and other infection-control measures, including isolation rooms and units, software and hardware purchases to facilitate telework for administrative staff and telehealth for patients, and lost revenue due to 2 decreased patient volume because of infection concerns and reduced referrals.”

NABH added that it supports the position in the agency’s rules to “exclude behavioral healthcare services from the prohibition on notice and consent to balance bill.”

Click here to read CMS’ July news release about the surprise billing requirements and here to read the interim final rule.

Reminder: NABH Denial-of-Care Portal is Open to Members

NABH’s Denial-of-Care Portal is available for members to provide information about their experiences with managed care organizations that impose barriers to care through insurance-claim denials.

NABH’s Managed Care Committee worked for more than a year to develop the Denial-of-Care Portal as a way to collect specific data on insurers who deny care—often without regard for parity or the effects on patients.

This NABH member-only, survey-like tool allows users to add the name of a managed care organization, type of plan, level of care, type of care (mental health or substance use disorder), duration of approved treatment, duration of unapproved treatment, criteria used to deny a claim, and more.

The portal allows members to submit individual examples of claim denials or upload multiple entries via Excel. It also includes sections on appeals and physician participation. In time, the tool could be a valuable resource for the NABH team’s advocacy efforts.

Please e-mail Emily Wilkins, NABH’s administrative coordinator, if you have questions about the portal.

2021 NABH Annual Meeting Hotel Cut-Off Date is Next Week

Please be sure to reserve your hotel room today at the Mandarin Oriental Washington, DC for the 2021 NABH Annual Meeting! The hotel’s cut-off date is next Friday, Sept. 17, 2021.

And please visit our Annual Meeting webpage to register for the meeting, if you have not done so yet. We look forward to seeing you in Washington!

Fact of the Week

Findings from a new study suggest a co-response team could lead to a lower chance of an individual entering into the criminal justice system during a crisis call with police, which has major implications for reducing the criminalization of mental illness if alternatives to police response for people with serious mental illness continues to spread throughout the United States.

For questions or comments about this CEO Update, please contact Jessica Zigmond.

SAMHSA’s Distress Helpline Available for Victims of Hurricane Ida

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) Disaster Distress Helpline (DDH) is providing immediate crisis counseling to people who have experienced Hurricane Ida, including survivors, first responders, witnesses, or those who have seen related media reports.

In a statement, Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use Miriam Delphin-Rittmon, Ph.D. urged people to access the helpline, adding that people who have lived through a traumatic event can experience anxiety, worry, or insomnia.

Disaster survivors and responders can call the DDH at 1-800-985-5990 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Click here for more information.

NABH appreciates and thanks its members who have continued to provide quality behavioral healthcare services in regions of the United States that Hurricane Ida has affected.

MACPAC Publishes Briefs on Healthcare Needs in Criminal and Juvenile Justice Systems

The Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC) has released a series of fact sheets on topics related to behavioral healthcare, including two focused on the healthcare needs of adults in the criminal justice system and adolescents in the juvenile healthcare system.

In its brief Health Care Needs of Adults in the Criminal Justice System, MACPAC reported that, “with few exceptions, Medicaid beneficiaries under community supervision reported higher rates of behavioral health conditions than their privately insured or uninsured peers. They also reported receiving mental health or substance use disorder (SUD) treatment at higher rates. However, Black beneficiaries with behavioral health conditions reported receipt of treatment at lower rates than their white peers.”

Meanwhile, nearly one third (31.0%) of those with mental illness reported that they needed mental health treatment or counseling but did not receive it. These rates did not differ by coverage type. Female beneficiaries with a mental health condition who were under community supervision reported higher rates (41.0%) of unmet need than their male counterparts (21.3%).

In addition, beneficiaries under community supervision with SUD were more likely to engage in treatment compared with those with private insurance, or adults who are uninsured (see Table 9 in the brief). Specifically, they were nearly twice as likely as privately insured or uninsured peers to report receiving such treatment in the past year.

In its brief Health Care Needs and Use of Services by Adolescents Involved with the Juvenile Justice System, MACPAC concluded the following findings:

• Roughly 21.7% of youth who stayed in jail or juvenile detention reported experiencing a major depressive episode (MDE) at some point in their lifetime, and approximately 16.4% reported experiencing one in the past year.

• Among Medicaid beneficiaries who stayed in jail or juvenile detention, females were nearly three times as likely to experience a MDE in the past year compared with their male peers. They also reported receipt of specialty mental health treatment at higher rates.

• Few Medicaid beneficiaries report receipt of mental health treatment while in jail or juvenile detention.

•  Roughly one in five beneficiaries who stayed in jail or juvenile detention had a substance use disorder in the past 12 months. However, only 16.9% received treatment in the past year.

MACPAC also released Medicaid Coverage of Qualified Residential Treatment Programs for Children in Foster Care, which offered a brief summary of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ September 2019 guidance on the Institutions for Mental Diseases (IMD) exclusion and Qualified Residential Treatment Program (QRTPs), as well as information about how states are implementing changes to the Family First Prevention Services Act.

CAHPS Program Releases Questions to Ask Patients About Accessing Mental Healthcare Services

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)’s Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS^®) program has released new questions to gather information about patients’ experiences with access to mental healthcare services, including therapy and medication.

An announcement noted that the six questions can be added to either the CAPHS Health Plan Survey or the CAHPS Clinician & Group Survey.

Click here to review the mental healthcare questions for the Health Plan Survey 5.0 and 5.1, and here to review the mental healthcare questions for the Clinician & Group Survey 3.0 and 3.1.

The agency noted that the new questions complement the CAHPS research team’s ongoing work to develop and test a standalone survey designed to assess patient experience with care for mental or behavioral health issues. Click here to learn more about CAHPS mental health surveys.

HRSA Reorganizes to Meet Priorities in Changing Healthcare Landscape

After a decade of growth, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) announced it has reorganized the agency to better meet its priorities.

As part of that restructuring, HRSA has established a Provider Relief Bureau (PRB) to manage and distribute financial support for the nation’s healthcare providers as they continue to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic. HRSA also created an Office for the Advancement of Telehealth (OAT) within the Office of the Administrator to serve as HHS’ focal point for fostering telehealth use more broadly, and an Office of Special Health Initiatives (OSHI) to oversee the 340B Drug Pricing Program.

Click here to see HRSA’s new organization chart and here for more details in the Federal Register.

U.S. Researchers Find Increased Likelihood of Arrhythmia Hospitalization in Youth With CUD

A new study from the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry shows Cannabis Use Disorder (CUD) was associated with a 47% to 52% increased likelihood of arrhythmia hospitalizations in the younger population.

The large, national study compared 570,000 patients between the ages of 15 and 54 who were admitted to the hospital between 2010-2014 for a primary diagnosis of arrhythmia, or an irregular heart rate, with 67,662,082 non-arrhythmia inpatients. According to the findings, atrial fibrillation was the most prevalent arrhythmia raising concerns for stroke and other embolic events.

“The fact that atrial fibrillation is the most prevalent arrhythmia is of special concern since it can result in stroke and other embolic events,” researchers noted in the study. “Physicians need to familiarize themselves with cannabis abuse or dependence as a risk factor for arrhythmia.”

Reminder: NABH Denial-of-Care Portal is Open to Members

NABH’s Denial-of-Care Portal is a new resource for members to provide information about their experiences with managed care organizations that impose barriers to care through insurance-claim denials.

NABH’s Managed Care Committee worked for more than a year to develop the Denial-of-Care Portal as a way to collect specific data on insurers who deny care—often without regard for parity or the effects on patients.

This NABH member-only, survey-like tool allows users to add the name of a managed care organization, type of plan, level of care, type of care (mental health or substance use disorder), duration of approved treatment, duration of unapproved treatment, criteria used to deny a claim, and more.

The portal allows members to submit individual examples of claim denials or upload multiple entries via Excel. It also includes sections on appeals and physician participation. In time, the tool could be a valuable resource for the NABH team’s advocacy efforts.

Please e-mail Emily Wilkins, NABH’s administrative coordinator, if you have questions about the portal.

2021 NABH Annual Meeting Hotel Cut-Off Date is Now Sept. 17!

Please be sure to reserve your hotel room today at the Mandarin Oriental Washington, DC for the 2021 NABH Annual Meeting! The hotel’s cut-off date is now Friday, Sept. 17, 2021.

And please visit our Annual Meeting webpage to register for the meeting, if you have not done so yet. We look forward to seeing you in Washington!

Fact of the Week 

Denver, Salt Lake City, and Minneapolis are reported to be the three best U.S. cities for mental health, while Dallas, Houston, and Jacksonville are the three worst, according to a new survey from telehealth company CertaPet. Researchers examined the following seven factors to determine the rankings: therapy session rate by state, total prescription charges by state, mandatory treatment laws grade by state, criminalization of mental illness by state, number of residents per one mental health provider by county,  poor mental health days by county, and overall community wellbeing.

For questions or comments about this CEO Update, please contact Jessica Zigmond.

Mental Health Companies Headspace and Ginger Plan $3 Billion Merger

Mental health companies Headspace and Ginger this week announced plans to merge, forming a new company called Headspace Health with a reported value of $3 billion.

A story in the publication Stat reported that the move will place the new company in the top echelon of companies competing for significant pieces of the mental health market.

In addition, the pair of companies offer complementary services. Headspace sells directly to consumers and businesses and focuses on self-directed meditation, a way for companies to offer a basic mental health resource to workers. Meanwhile, Ginger is a mental health app that offers users an opportunity to chat with a trained behavioral health coach within seconds and meet with a licensed therapist or psychiatrist via video within days.

Both companies were established in 2010 and claim to cover more than 100 million people worldwide, according to Stat.

Analysis of Multi-District Litigation Settlement Agreement Highlights Implications for Nation’s Overdose Crisis 

A new report from two public health experts examines the implications from the recent settlement agreement that seven attorneys general announced with the three largest opioid distributors and  Johnson & Johnson over lawsuits filed against them for their role in the nation’s opioid crisis.

A bipartisan group of seven state attorneys general announced the settlement in July, and a key question has been whether the settlement funds—and other funds from opioid litigation—will be used wisely. The report noted that more than 50 organizations endorsed five principles to outline the process that states and local jurisdictions should implement when deciding how to use the money they will receive. NABH was among those organizations.

The principles include spending the money to save lives; using evidence to guide spending; investing in youth prevention; focusing on racial equity; and developing a fair and transparent process for where to spend the funds.

“Many parts of the settlement agreement are generally consistent with these principles,” wrote authors Josh Rising, M.D., a pediatrician and public health physician and Sara Whaley, a research associate at Johns Hopkins University. “However, considerable discretion in state and local implementation leaves a major role for advocacy. The best use of billions of dollars to address addiction and overdose are at stake.”

Ohio State Seeks Providers for Study on Traumatic Brain Injury Screening in Behavioral Healthcare Organizations 

The Ohio State University College of Social Work is conducting a study to understand behavioral health providers’ attitudes and beliefs about screening for traumatic brain injury (TBI) in behavioral healthcare organizations.

The university is currently seeking licensed behavioral health providers in the United States (i.e., psychologists, social workers, counselors, nurses, psychiatrists) to participate in this web-based study. Survey respondents will be asked to complete an online training on how to screen for TBI (approximately 30-45 minutes) and complete a 15-minute survey. Participants will receive a certificate of completion for one continuing education (CE) credit for completing the training, and also will be enrolled for the chance to win a $50 gift card. There will be 55 winners from the gift card drawing.

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke is funding the study (Grant #1F31NS124263-01), and Ph.D. candidate Kathryn A. Coxe is leading it. For additional information or questions, please contact Kathryn at: coxe.6@osu.edu.
Click here to participate in the study.

Joint Commission to Start 11-part Behavioral Healthcare Accreditation Webinar Series on Aug. 28

The Joint Commission will present an 11-part Behavioral Healthcare and Human Services Accreditation Webinar Series to help providers prepare their staffs to maintain compliance.

Session topics include information management, medication management, infection prevention and control, patient safety, environment of care, and more. The Joint Commission will present the series—which will be made available Aug. 28—on demand so that organization teams can view the webinars when it’s convenient for them.

Click here to learn more, including information about special healthcare system discounts.

Center for Rural Opioid Prevention, Treatment & Recovery to Host Webinar Aug. 31

The Center for Rural Opioid Prevention, Treatment & Recovery (CROP+TR) will host a webinar later this month to review the prevalence of methamphetamine use and co-use with opioids, the effect of methamphetamine on the health of people with opioid use disorder, and potentially effective interventions for methamphetamine.

The webinar will be held on Tuesday, Aug. 31 at 4 p.m. ET. Click here to register.

Reminder: NABH Denial-of-Care Portal is Open to Members

NABH’s Denial-of-Care Portal is a new resource for members to provide information about their experiences with managed care organizations that impose barriers to care through insurance-claim denials.

NABH’s Managed Care Committee worked for more than a year to develop the Denial-of-Care Portal as a way to collect specific data on insurers who deny care—often without regard for parity or the effects on patients.

This NABH member-only, survey-like tool allows users to add the name of a managed care organization, type of plan, level of care, type of care (mental health or substance use disorder), duration of approved treatment, duration of unapproved treatment, criteria used to deny a claim, and more.

The portal allows members to submit individual examples of claim denials or upload multiple entries via Excel. It also includes sections on appeals and physician participation. In time, the tool could be a valuable resource for the NABH team’s advocacy efforts.
Please e-mail Emily Wilkins, NABH’s administrative coordinator, if you have questions about the portal.

Singer Judy Collins and Former NIMH Director Tom Insel, M.D. to Kick Off 2021 Annual Meeting

Join us at the NABH 2021 Annual Meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 6 to hear from award-winning singer, songwriter, and author Judy Collins. A strong mental health and suicide-prevention advocate, Ms. Collins wrote Sanity and Grace in 2003 about her 33-year-old son’s death by suicide in 1992.

NABH is also pleased to welcome Thomas R. Insel, M.D., co-founder and president of Mindstrong Health and former director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) at the National Institutes of Mental Health.

If you have not done so yet, please register for the Annual Meeting and reserve your hotel room today. Our new hotel cut-off date is Friday, Sept. 17. We look forward to seeing you in Washington!

Fact of the Week

Research shows Black youth younger than age 13 die by suicide at nearly twice the rate of white kids, and, over time, their suicide rates have grown even as rates have decreased for white children.

For questions or comments about this CEO Update, please contact Jessica Zigmond.

SAMHSA Distributes $11 million to Train First Responders & Community Groups on Overdose Prevention

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has distributed 13 grants totaling $11 million to reduce the number of prescription drug and overdose-related deaths and adverse events by training first responders and other essential community groups.

SAMHSA’s announcement said grantees will receive up to $850,000 per year over five years for a total of $55.2 million (this distribution was for the first year).

“The more SAMHSA does to equip communities across the country to prevent fatal overdoses, the more opportunities our loved ones will have to pursue treatments for substance use disorders and experience long-term recovery,” HHS Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use Miriam E. Delphin-Rittmon, Ph.D. said in an announcement. “This is a need that preceded the Covid-19 pandemic and has only grown more urgent over the course of the past 18 months,” added Rittmon, who leads SAMHSA.

Click here to see a full list of the grant recipients.

Kaiser Family Foundation Examines Pandemic’s Effects on Parents and Children 

A new report from the Kaiser Family Foundation has found that 36% of parents say their child fell behind in their social and emotional development, and about 29% said their child experienced mental health or behavioral health problems due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Kaiser’s latest Covid-19 Vaccine Monitor examines the pandemic’s effects on children’s academic and social development as a new school year approaches. Among the study’s notable conclusions is a finding that parents whose children attended school all or mostly online, or who had a mix of online and in-person schooling, were more likely than parents whose child attended school all or mostly in-person to say they had a child who had these adverse effects, even after controlling for other demographic factors and type of school setting.

The study also showed that 42% of parents reported that their children experienced at least one new mental health symptom in the past 12 months that they had not experienced before the pandemic, including difficulty concentrating on schoolwork (27%), problems with nervousness or being easily scared or worried (19%), trouble sleeping (18%), poor appetite or overeating (15%), and frequent headaches or stomachaches (11%).

SAMHSA Releases Guide About Report to Congress on Preventing and Reducing Underage Drinking

SAMHSA has released a user’s guide about the agency’s report to Congress on how to prevent and reduce underage drinking.

The brief resource provides an overview of the report for prevention professionals, state and local agencies, and community-based organizations.

Ohio State Seeks Providers for Study on Traumatic Brain Injury Screening in Behavioral Healthcare Organizations 

The Ohio State University College of Social Work is conducting a study to understand behavioral health providers’ attitudes and beliefs about screening for traumatic brain injury (TBI) in behavioral healthcare organizations.

The university is currently seeking licensed behavioral health providers in the United States (i.e., psychologists, social workers, counselors, nurses, psychiatrists) to participate in this web-based study. Survey respondents will be asked to complete an online training on how to screen for TBI (approximately 30-45 minutes) and complete a 15-minute survey. Participants will receive a certificate of completion for one continuing education (CE) credit for completing the training, and also will be enrolled for the chance to win a $50 gift card. There will be 55 winners from the gift card drawing.

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke is funding the study (Grant #1F31NS124263-01), and Ph.D. candidate Kathryn A. Coxe is leading it. For additional information or questions, please contact Kathryn at: coxe.6@osu.edu.
Click here to participate in the study.

Joint Commission to Start 11-part Behavioral Healthcare Accreditation Webinar Series on Aug. 28

The Joint Commission will present an 11-part Behavioral Healthcare and Human Services Accreditation Webinar Series to help providers prepare their staffs to maintain compliance.

Session topics include information management, medication management, infection prevention and control, patient safety, environment of care, and more. The Joint Commission will present the series—which will be made available Aug. 28—on demand so that organization teams can view the webinars when it’s convenient for them.

Click here to learn more, including information about special healthcare system discounts.

Center for Rural Opioid Prevention, Treatment & Recovery to Host Webinar Aug. 31

The Center for Rural Opioid Prevention, Treatment & Recovery (CROP+TR) will host a webinar later this month to review the prevalence of methamphetamine use and co-use with opioids, the effect of methamphetamine on the health of people with opioid use disorder, and potentially effective interventions for methamphetamine.

The webinar will be held on Tuesday, Aug. 31 at 4 p.m. ET. Click here to register.

Reminder: NABH Denial-of-Care Portal is Open to Members

NABH’s Denial-of-Care Portal is a new resource for members to provide information about their experiences with managed care organizations that impose barriers to care through insurance-claim denials.

NABH’s Managed Care Committee worked for more than a year to develop the Denial-of-Care Portal as a way to collect specific data on insurers who deny care—often without regard for parity or the effects on patients.

This NABH member-only, survey-like tool allows users to add the name of a managed care organization, type of plan, level of care, type of care (mental health or substance use disorder), duration of approved treatment, duration of unapproved treatment, criteria used to deny a claim, and more.

The portal allows members to submit individual examples of claim denials or upload multiple entries via Excel. It also includes sections on appeals and physician participation. In time, the tool could be a valuable resource for the NABH team’s advocacy efforts.

Please e-mail Emily Wilkins, NABH’s administrative coordinator, if you have questions about the portal.

Register Today for the NABH 2021 Annual Meeting!

Registration is open for the NABH 2021 Annual Meeting from Wednesday, Oct. 6 – Friday, Oct. 8, 2021 at the Mandarin Oriental Washington, DC.

We hope you join us as we recognize our meeting theme, Expanding Access: Right Care. Right Setting. Right Time.

Please visit our Annual Meeting webpage to register for the meeting and to reserve your hotel room. We look forward to seeing you in Washington!

Fact of the Week

Individuals who experience early episode psychosis (EEP) were more likely to visit the emergency department for mental health related issues and to have an inpatient psychiatric hospital stay than those with late episode psychosis (LEP), according to research published in Psychiatric Services this month.

For questions or comments about this CEO Update, please contact Jessica Zigmond.