Advancing Public Policies for People with Mental Illness, Chemical Dependency or Developmental Disabilities
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Dutchess County is Recognized for Autism Support
The Anderson Center for Autism has designated Dutchess County as an Autism Supportive County, making it the first in New York state to receive such a recognition.
To be named an Autism Supportive County, a county must demonstrate its commitment to Anderson's mission of optimizing the quality of life for people with autism across areas such as education, infrastructure, and sustainability.
Read more here.
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Value-Based Payment Models May Shift The Primary Care Staffing Mix
As the primary care industry moves toward value-based payment (VBP), primary care practices participating in risk-based models will need additional staff who offer a richer skill mix. The additional skills include consumer education, care planning and coordination of care, as well as support for community services to meet needs of consumers with complex health and behavioral health conditions. Pharmacists, behavioral health professionals, nutritionists, and social workers may be needed to support community services. As a result, a practice participating in a risk-based model could need registered nurses (RNs), licensed practical nurses (LPNs), medical assistants (MAs), behavioral health social workers, nutritionists, and pharmacists.
Currently, fee-for-service (FFS) practices rely on RNs, LPNs, and MAs. Read more
here.
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UPCOMING EVENTS & TRAININGS
Tackling Opioid Addiction: A Case Study With Shatterproof & Kolmac Clinic
October 22, 12 - 1 pm, PsychU
PSYCKES Mobile App for iPhones & iPads
October 22, 1 - 2 pm, OMH
Digital Health: Disruptive Technology or Just a Disruption?
October 23, 1 - 2 pm, Manatt Health
Addressing Youth Substance Use at the County Level: A Lunchtime Discussion
October 29, 11 - 1:30 pm, National Association of Counties
PSYCKES New Features Training Webinar
October 29, 2 - 3 pm, OMH
Using PSYCKES Quality Indicator Reports
October 30, 11 am - 12 pm, OMH
Navigating the Digital Era: Social Media and Mental Health
November 5, 12 - 1 pm, PsychU
What Matters Most in Driving Cross-Sector Partnerships for Complex Populations
November 5, 3 - 4 pm, National Center for Complex Health and Social Needs
innovaTel - Telepsychiatry: A Year in Review and Beyond and What's to Come in 2020
November 6, 1 - 1:30 pm, National Council for Behavioral Health
A Framework for Evaluating the Return on Investment of Telehealth
November 6, 1 - 2 pm, Manatt Health
PSYCKES New Features Training Webinar
November 13, 11 am - 12 pm, OMH
Technology and Mental Health: Defining the Current Landscape
November 19, 12 - 1 pm, PsychU |
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BH Portal Webinar: Other Resources - The Opportunity Atlas/ Index
October 23: 12 - 12:30 pm, GTM
CLMHD Mentoring Session - In Person
October 29: 2 - 5 pm, Albany
State Agencies Meeting -
In Person
October 30: 9:30 am - 4 pm,
Albany
Executive Committee Call
November 6: 8 am, GTM
Office Closed - Veterans Day
November 11
Children & Families Committee Meeting
November 19: 11:30 am - 1 pm, GTM
CLMHD Membership Call
November 20: 9 - 10:30 am, GTM
Mental Hygiene Planning Committee Meeting
November 21: 1 - 3 pm, GTM
Office Closed - Thanksgiving
November 28 - 29
Contact CLMHD for all Call In and Go To Meeting information, 518.462.9422
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Statewide Initiative Responds to Need for Youth Mental Health First Aid Instructors Throughout NY
The Conference will launch its 6th annual
Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA) instructor certification program on Monday, October 21st. To date, CLMHD's initiative has trained 150 individuals across the state, and an additional 30 people will be trained during this upcoming session. The Conference is committed to advancing YMHFA's goal to reduce the stigma of mental illness through teaching community members how to immediately respond to youth struggling with a mental health/substance abuse crisis.
YMHFA is a nationally-recognized program designed to teach parents, family members, caregivers, teachers, school staff, peers, neighbors, health and human services workers, and other caring citizens how to help an adolescent (age 12-18) who is experiencing a mental health or addictions challenge or is in crisis. Graduates of the training are certified to teach the 8-hour program to a variety of audiences, including educators and school staff, law enforcement, foster parents, and community members. The instructor certification training is conducted by the National Council for Behavioral Health, which manages the program across the country. Read more
here.
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Worries Grow Over Medicaid Overruns In NY
A policy seminar titled
Medicaid Migraine
, held Wednesday by the fiscal watchdog group the Empire Center as part of the Gov. Hugh L. Carey Policy Forum, addressed the rapidly increasing health care costs in New York that led to Gov. Andrew Cuomo's budget office delaying a $1.7 billion payment to providers last year.
The $72 billion Medicaid program provides health coverage to low-income people. In New York, it's funded by the federal government, the state and individual counties. For much of the past decade, state Medicaid costs were kept relatively under control because of a spending cap - known as the global cap - agreed to by Cuomo and the state legislature. The cap was tied to the rate of medical industry inflation.
Bill Hammond, the Empire Center's health policy analyst, said since 2016, the costs have been escalating. Last year, spending was about 8% more than the previous year. Hammond said the global cap was designed to impose spending reductions whenever costs rose too steeply, but he said those enforcement mechanisms were not used. Read more
here.
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New SAMHSA Documents Offer Strategies and Evidence-based Guidance for Crisis Response and Criminal Justice Systems
Recent publications from SAMHSA provide key strategies and guidance for improving criminal justice and crisis system responses to people with mental illness and co-occurring disorders. The topics covered include forensic assertive community treatment, medication diversion in correctional facilities, screening and assessment for co-occurring disorders, and crisis response and early diversion in rural communities. You may access the publications below.
This brief provides an overview of Forensic Assertive Community Treatment (FACT)-an intensive service delivery model intended for people with serious mental illness who are involved in the criminal justice system.
This action brief provides criminal justice stakeholders, correctional facility leadership, & correctional staff with helpful strategies & techniques to reduce diversion of MAT medications.
This report provides evidence-based practices for screening and assessment of adults in the justice system with mental illness, substance use disorders, or both. It discusses the importance of instrument selection for screening and assessment and provides detailed descriptions of recommended instruments.
This action brief provides rural communities recommended strategies for adapting promising or proven interventions to better support crisis response and pre-arrest diversion in their communities.
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State Releases DSRIP Interim Evaluation Report
As part of the standard terms and conditions for New York's Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment (DSRIP) program, CMS required New York to competitively procure an Independent Evaluator (IE) to test research questions regarding the goals of the demonstration in transforming the safety net system at both the local and state level, and accountability in reducing avoidable hospital use and improvements in other health areas. The State University of New York at Albany, School of Public Health was selected to be the IE.
The IE is required to conduct analyses and provide an Interim Evaluation Report and the final Summative Evaluation Report based on a CMS-approved evaluation plan to cover the entire demonstration from April 2014 to March 31, 2020. The Interim Evaluation Report, approved by CMS on October 2nd, 2019, covers the early period 2014-2017. The initial findings are promising based on the preliminary data available at the time of the evaluation. The report is available
here.
The comprehensive evaluation and findings will be provided in the Summative Evaluation Report to be submitted to CMS in the Fall of 2021.
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State to End FIDA Program for Dual Eligible Beneficiaries
The state is abandoning an insurance product meant to provide integrated care for dual Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries and better manage their health care costs.
Its Fully Integrated Duals Advantage program will end Dec. 31, and the 2,700 members enrolled in the program can pick a new plan. But if they do nothing by Dec. 20, they will be moved into a comparable Medicaid Advantage Plus product offered by their insurer on January 1.
Members would then receive benefits through the Medicaid Advantage Plus plan and a Medicare Advantage Dual Eligible Special Needs Plan offered by the same company. Read more
here.
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People Dually Diagnosed with Intellectual Disability and Mental Illness - New National Core Indicators
The understanding of how to provide services and supports to people who are dual diagnosed continues to deepen and expand. In this data brief we examine National Core Indicators (NCI™) data from 2017-2018 to explore the characteristics and outcomes of people with dual diagnoses with the hope that it will add to a growing body of knowledge. Click
here to take a look at the new data
brief.
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New National Initiative on Advancing Integrated Models for People with Complex Needs Announced
The Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS) recently announced
Advancing Integrated Models (AIM), a national, multi-site demonstration promoting innovative, person-centered strategies to improve care for adults and children with complex health and social needs. Made possible with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and led by CHCS, AIM will assist eight health system and provider organizations in designing and piloting novel approaches to integrate care for people with complex needs with a focus on improving health outcomes and fostering health equity.
This multi-site demonstration will accelerate opportunities to align best practice approaches in care delivery for children and adults with complex health and/or social needs, including: (1) complex care management; (2) trauma-informed care; (3) physical and behavioral health integration; and (4) mechanisms to address health-related social needs.
While many organizations have implemented one or more of these strategies, few have adopted all and even fewer have effectively aligned these efforts internally or externally with community partners. Read more
here.
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SAMHSA: Grants for the Benefit of Homeless Individuals
Application Due Date: Monday, December 16, 2019
SAMHSA is accepting applications for Grants for the Benefit of Homeless Individuals (GBHI). The purpose of this program is to support the development and/or expansion of local implementation of a community infrastructure that integrates substance use disorder treatment, housing services, and other critical services for individuals (including youth) and families experiencing homelessness.
SAMHSA plans to issue 13 grants of up to $400,000 per year for up to 5 years. Read more here. |
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What Are Health Plans Doing About Access?
Consumer access to care remains a 'top of mind' issue-from access to psychiatrists, waiting lists for treatment programs, and follow-up appointments with therapists-executives realize that care delayed is often never received, which can lead to more expensive care.
In 2017, only 48.2% of members with a commercial HMO plan had a follow-up visit within seven days after discharge from the hospital for mental illness. And just 37.0% and 32.2% of consumers who have Medicaid and Medicare coverage had follow-up visits within seven days post-discharge, respectively.
Only 37.1% of adolescents or adults with episodes of alcohol or other drug dependence who had commercial insurance initiated treatment within 14 days of diagnosis
. For consumers with Medicaid and Medicare, 42.4% and 32.6% initiated treatment within 14 days, respectively.
We wanted to know what health plans are doing to address this access issue and surveyed more than 4,000 U.S. health plans to get answers. Read more
here.
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