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October 12, 2017

Advancing Public Policies for People with Mental Illness, Chemical Dependency or Developmental Disabilities   

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Francine Sinkoff, Editor
fs@clmhd.org

Fighting Back: No Wrong Doors - 
Dutchess center an innovative first step to recovery




Treatment for opioid addiction is expanding in CNY (Commentary)





OPWDD Acting Commissioner Delaney Announces the Publication of the Final Care Coordination Organization/Health Home (CCO/HH) Application

In partnership with the Department of Health (DOH), the Office for People With Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) is pleased to announce the publication of the final Care Coordination Organization/Health Home (CCO/HH) Application to Serve Individuals with Intellectual and/or Developmental Disabilities (I/DD), as well as the response to public comment on the draft Application.  These documents are available for review on the DOH website.

Based on the comments received, DOH and OPWDD incorporated several changes to the Application. These changes are detailed in the response to public comment and the Final Application. OPWDD will keep stakeholders updated as this transition continues.

Trends in Opioid-related Inpatient Stays Shifted After the US Transitioned to ICD-10-CM Diagnosis Coding in 2015

New Performance-Based Tool Evaluates Cognitive Impact of Schizophrenia

Study reveals potential drug target for bipolar disorder, schizophrenia

Web-based treatments helping people with severe mental illness return to work

Why Are More American Teenagers Than Ever Suffering From Severe Anxiety?
Register Today for Peer to Peer Education Forums About New Medicaid Offerings Across NYS

NYAPRS and its partners at the Mental Health Empowerment Project and the Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Providers of NYS have been engaged in a statewide initiative aimed at educating and encouraging eligible Medicaid members to enroll in Health and Recovery Plans and Health Homes and to make use of newly available Home and Community Based Services.

Peer educators have been coming to the program and community settings in your area to engage in an informal and interactive discussion about the new choices enrollees with more extensive behavioral health conditions can make to raise the bar for what they seek in their lives and from their services.

The project is funded by the Office of Mental Health and has been developed with guidance from OMH, the Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services, the Department of Health and the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

Click here for a program flyer.
Americans in Rural Areas More Likely to Die by Suicide 

Rural counties consistently had higher suicide rates than metropolitan counties from 2001-2015, according to data released today in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)  Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Suicide is the tenth leading cause of death in the United States. There were more than half a million suicides during the 2001-2015 study period.

Mortality data from the  National Vital Statistics System  (NVSS) include demographic, geographic, and mechanism of death information derived from death certificates filed in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The new report examined annual county level trends in suicide rates during 2001-2015 for rural counties, medium/small metropolitan counties, large metropolitan counties, as well as demographics and mechanism of death. Overall, suicide death rates for rural counties (17.32 per 100,000 people) were higher than medium/small metropolitan counties (14.86) and large metropolitan counties (11.92).  Read more here .




UPCOMING TRAININGS

October 12, 2 - 3:15 pm, Stepping Up

October 16, 1 - 2:30 pm, CHCS

October 19, 1 - 2 pm, EHR Intelligence

October 19, 2 - 3:15 pm, Stepping Up

Behavioral Health Advisor: The Guide to Navigating Compliance
October 24, 12 - 1 pm, National Council for Behavioral Health

October 24, 2 - 3 pm, National Council for Behavioral Health

October 24, 3:30 - 5 pm, National Academy for State Health Policy

October 25, 9:15 - 10:45 am, National Academy for State Health Policy

October 30, 12:30 - 2 pm, CHCS

November 7, 12 - 1 pm, PsychU

November 9, 2 - 3:15 pm, Stepping Up

November 16, 2 - 3:15 pm, Stepping Up

 
CALENDAR OF EVENTS

OCTOBER 2017

Children & Families Committee Meeting
October 17:  11:30 am - 1 pm,  GTM

Mental Hygiene Planning Committee Meeting
October 17:  1 - 3 pm,  GTM

OMH Agency Meeting 
October 24:  9 am - 12 pm
44 Holland Ave., Albany

OASAS Agency Meeting
October 24:  1 - 4 pm
1450 Western Ave., Albany


NOVEMBER 2017

Officers, Chairs & Regional Reps Call
November 1:  8 am

Office Closed - Veterans' Day
November 10

Directors & Executive Committee Combined Meeting
November 15:  9:30 - 12:30 pm
GTM

Children & Families Committee Meeting
November 21:  11:30 am - 1 pm,  GTM

Office Closed - Thanksgiving
November 23 & 24

Mental Hygiene Planning Committee Meeting
November 28:  1 - 3 pm,  GTM


Contact CLMHD for all Call In and Go To Meeting information, 518.462.9422 
New NYS Coalition Launches "Bring It Home" Campaign

A coalition of mental health advocates and supportive housing providers on Monday
launched  the "Bring It Home: Better Funding for Better Care" campaign to call on the state to  adequately fund community-based mental health housing programs in an effort to pull the  housing system away from its impending financial breaking point.

Despite New York's nation-leading 40,000 community-based mental health housing units, the system has been left financially stretched untenably thin by decades of inconsistent and unreliable state funding. New York has a moral obligation to protect this critical system by providing for people with serious psychiatric disabilities - who often have significant medical conditions and substance abuse issues as well.

"A stable home is the foundation of care and recovery for New Yorkers with psychiatric
disabilities," said Toni Lasicki, Executive Director of the Association for Community Living (ACL).  "It's our responsibility as New Yorkers to help care for our neighbors, and ensuring continuity of care is key to supporting those with serious and persistent psychiatric disabilities. Without reliable, adequate and continuous funding, providers will cease operations, leading to shortages
of critical community-based housing units and punishing those who need help the most."  Read the full press release here.
Delivery System Reform Hampers ACO Progress on Risk-Based Contracts

Accountable-care organizations are participating more and more in risk-based contracts, but that progress has been stalled by sluggish care-delivery changes, a new survey suggests. 

Roughly 50% of ACOs are involved in at least one downside risk contract, such as shared savings and capitation contracts, according to a  Leavitt Partners and National Association of ACOs report recently published in Health Affairs. About 47% of ACOs plan to participate in shared-savings risk-based contracts in the next year or so.

However, ACOs are focusing mostly on "low-hanging fruit" strategies to save money and improve quality of care, which mitigates how well the organizations are able to perform in riskier contracts, the report said. 

"Even though ACO providers say they are preparing for and assuming risk, the care delivery system is not advancing as quickly as the payment system reforms," said Kate de Lisle, an author of the study and a senior analyst at Leavitt Partners. "In order for these payment models to be successful, providers need to change the way they deliver care." 
Read more here.
Governor Cuomo Announces Second Round of Awards for Development of Supportive Housing Units Across NYS

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo yesterday announced 169 conditional awards to agencies in 47 counties across New York that will provide support services and operating funding for at least 1,200 units of supportive housing for homeless persons with special needs, conditions or other challenges. The awards, totaling up to $30 million, are part of the Governor's $2.6 Billion, 5-Year plan to develop 6,000 units of Supportive Housing.

Applicants were instructed to demonstrate how their proposals would help specific populations targeted for support, including veterans, victims of domestic violence, frail or disabled senior citizens, young adults with histories of incarceration, homelessness or foster care, chronically homeless individuals and families, as well as individuals with health, mental health and/or substance use disorders. 

The conditional awards are for service and operating funding needed to operate permanent supportive housing units. The awards will allow applicants to secure separate capital funding to finance the development and construction of their housing project.  Read more here.
City Signs Exclusive Deal With Pharmaceutical Firm for Anti-Overdose Drug

The city and state announced Monday that they entered into an exclusive one-year deal with the makers of an anti-overdose drug to quicken the time it takes to get the medication into the hands of first responders.

The city has allocated about $7.836 million through various agencies to buy the drug  naloxone this year, while the state Department of Health will kick in $7 million.

The one-year agreement with  Adapt Pharma, producer of  Narcan, does away with the piecemeal process of dealing with different distributors to get naloxone and creates a central ordering system that can get the drug to them in as little as a day.

"The Health Department has distributed over 45,000 naloxone kits so far in calendar year 2017," city officials said in a statement to DNAinfo, adding the price has usually been between $60 to $75 per kit.

Under the new agreement with NYC Health + Hospitals and the city and state's Department of Health, organizations can now visit the same spot to order the medication and receive it directly from Adapt. Law enforcement agencies, first responders and opioid-prevention programs will all have access to the system, officials said.  Read more here.
Newly Released AHRQ Report on Implementing Medication-Assisted Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder in Rural Primary Care

A new report from the AHRQ Academy for Integrating Behavioral Health and Primary Care, Implementing Medication-Assisted Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder in Rural Primary Care:  Environmental Scan was just released last week.  

The two-volume reportexamines factors that may limit access to medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for opioid use disorder (OUD) in rural primary care settings. Three innovative models of care, including the Vermont Hub and Spoke model, Project ECHO (Extension for Community Health Care Outcomes) from New Mexico, and the Office-Based Opioid Treatment with Buprenorphine (OBOT-B) Collaborative Care Model from Massachusetts, may help overcome a number of the challenges faced when implementing MAT services in rural primary care. Peer-reviewed articles and grey literature on implementing MAT for OUD were examined. The second volume of the report includes links and descriptions to nearly 250 tools and resources to support the delivery of MAT in rural primary care settings.
Community Partnerships, Social Determinants Keys to Unlocking Data's Potential

Staten Island Performing Provider System is the most successful PPS in New York, and its executive director says it's only possible through its partners and the seamless platform that gets crucial population health data into the hands of its providers.


The act of collecting data doesn't do much to improve patient care without the right processes, platform and people working together to make that data actionable.

Joe Conte, executive director of Staten Island Performing Provider System -- New York's most successful branch -- has mastered that approach and brought real change to the health system. 

At its core, the PPS has set up a platform to ensure its 75 partners have solid data to make the best business and clinical decisions.

"Everyone has different levels of competency," said Conte. "Even some larger organizations don't necessarily have the best capabilities and can get overwhelmed with information."

Staten Island PPS leverages a seamless platform that gathers data from multiple sources -- claims data, core reports, department of health information and the like -- and that data is inserted directly into the electronic data warehouse.

Conte explained his team uses hot spotting and geomapping to really tease out pieces of information that they wouldn't necessarily see if the data was pooled from one source.
Read more here.
ACOs Focus on Health IT, Population Health Management Plans

Trimming costs by implementing coordinated, high-touch population health management initiatives is the primary focus for the majority of accountable care organizations (ACOs) responding to  a new poll conducted by National Association of ACOs (NAACOS) and Leavitt Partners.

The survey, which collected responses from 240 ACOs participating in a variety of value-based care and risk-sharing arrangements, showed that most organizations are aggressively pursuing chronic disease management programs, care integration strategies, and patient engagement techniques that will help to reduce costs and improve the quality of care.

"Understanding where ACOs are focusing their resources shows how ACOs are preparing for their intended future risk-bearing."   That future is likely to include more financial responsibility for outcomes bound up in a greater number of contracts with Medicare, Medicaid, and private payers, the survey found.  Read more here.
EHR Interoperability to Transform Healthcare in Decade Ahead

new report from the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions examined ways EHR centralization, integration, and interoperabilty will likely transform the healthcare industry in the next 10 years.

Researchers conducted a crowdsourcing simulation with 33 healthcare experts worldwide - including physician and nurse leaders, public policy leaders, and IT experts - to develop specific use cases for the design of digital hospitals in ten years.

"Many of these use case concepts and technologies already are in play," wrote authors. "Hospital executives should be planning how to integrate technology into newly built facilities and retrofit it into older ones. A well-crafted strategy can lay the foundation for future investments in care delivery, talent, data management, and cyber security."

Experts focused on the ways new technologies can reduce inefficiencies and improve patient health outcomes.  Read more here.
The Conference of Local Mental Hygiene Directors advances public policies and awareness for people with mental illness, chemical dependency and developmental disabilities.  We are a statewide membership organization that consists of the Commissioner/ Director of each of the state's 57 county mental hygiene departments and the mental hygiene department of the City of New York.

Affiliated