CEO Update 212
NABH Welcomes Jim Shaheen as 2025 Board Chair
NABH is pleased to welcome New Season CEO Jim Shaheen as chair of the NABH Board of Trustees for 2025.
A longtime NABH member, Jim has served NABH in many capacities, including currently as vice president of the NABH Education and Research Foundation and member of the Addiction Treatment Committee, and previously as treasurer of the NABH Board of Trustees.
Jim leads New Season, a medication-assisted treatment company that serves more than 32,000 patients in 88 clinics located in 20 different states. Prior to his current role, Jim founded Shaheen Strategic Investments (SSI) to provide a vehicle for the Shaheen family to grow and expand its holdings in a variety of businesses. Before that, Shaheen founded the national healthcare company Strategic Behavioral Health, a chain of private psychiatric and substance use hospitals nationwide. Headquartered in Memphis, Tenn., the company expanded to 13 hospitals in 8 states.
With more than 33 years of behavioral healthcare experience, Shaheen has helped a variety of small and large companies grow and expand services to meet the demands of behavioral healthcare services in many communities. Currently he serves as chairman of the UT Health Science Center College of Medicine Board of Visitors.
Jim holds a master’s degree in organizational communications from Murray State University and an undergraduate degree in Therapeutic Recreation, also from Murray State University.
The association’s Washington-based team is eager to work with Jim this year and appreciates his passion and leadership for both the behavioral healthcare segment and the association.
In addition, the NABH team is very grateful to Rutgers University Behavioral Health Care CEO Frank Ghinassi, Ph.D., A.B.P.P., for his service as NABH’s 2024 board chair and all he does to promote NABH’s priorities and the association’s vision and mission. Thank you, Frank!
SAMHSA Updates Contingency Management Incentive Limit in New Advisory
In a new advisory, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has raised the annual contingency management (CM) incentive limit to $750 per patient from $75 per patient for entities that implement CM using funds from the State Opioid Response and Tribal Opioid Response grant programs.
The advisory also outlines safeguards for grantees implementing CM that align with recommendations HHS outlined in a November 2023 report.
This policy change is a big win for the addiction-treatment community and NABH, which has led advocacy efforts for several years to revise policies that previously limited the uptake of this evidence-based treatment, especially given the rise in stimulant-involved overdose deaths.
Please Share Your Feedback on CMS’ New Cybersecurity Rule
The Centers for Medicare & Services (CMS) recently proposed a rule that seeks to strengthen cybersecurity protections for electronic health information.
The proposed rule would modify the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act’s (HIPAA) security rule, which establishes national standards to protect individuals’ electronic health information by entities such as health plans, health care clearinghouses, and healthcare providers.
Last February’s cyberattack on UnitedHealth’s medical claims processor – the largest attack ever reported, which affected the private health information of approximately 100 million people – prompted CMS to propose this regulation.
Both lengthy and complex, the proposed rule includes mandatory and voluntary cybersecurity measures, including updating the HIPAA security rule, that would affect NABH member operations, including:
- Requiring written documentation of all HIPAA security policies, procedures, plans, and analyses;
- Updating definitions and revising implementation specifications to reflect changes in technology and terminology;
- Adding specific compliance time periods for many existing requirements;
- Requiring the development and revision of a technology-asset inventory and a network map that illustrates the movement of patient health information throughout providers’ electronic information system(s), at least once every 12 months;
- Requiring more specific risk analysis protocols; and
- Multiple additional provisions.
Please read the agency’s fact sheet for more information.
NABH encourages members to e-mail Rochelle Archuleta soon to help identify the provisions that would have the greatest effects on your operations and all other concerns and questions. Your feedback will help NABH prepare the association’s comment letter before CMS’ March 7th deadline.
CMS and Mathematica Seek Experts for TEP on Quality Reporting and Payment
CMS and its contractor Mathematica, a research and data analytics consultancy, seek nominations for a Technical Expert Panel (TEP) to provide information about new and existing measures for CMS quality reporting and payment programs.
This work falls under Mathematica’s Behavioral Health Measures Development and Inpatient and Outpatient Measure Maintenance (BHIOMM) project. The BHIOMM TEP’s objective is to provide feedback and offer opinions on the identification, development, specification, testing, maintenance, re-evaluation, and implementation of health-related quality measures used in CMS’ quality programs.
Click here for more information. The deadline for nominations is next Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. Please contact BHIOMMmeasures@mathematica-mpr.com if you have questions.
CMS and Abt Seek Nominations for TEP to Design a Patient Assessment Instrument
CMS and its contractor Abt, a research and consulting firm, are assembling a TEP that will provide guidance on clinical and operational issues to design and implement a patient assessment instrument (PAI).
Abt seeks a mix of clinical and operational leaders, including participants with direct knowledge of the patient assessment process. Please refer to the TEP Charter for more information. The TEP will meet periodically for up to four years. All meetings will be held virtually, including the first meeting in February or March 2025.
Nomination packets must include a signed TEP nomination form, letter of interest, and CV, all of which must be e-mailed to IPF-PAI_testing@abtglobal.com with “Nomination” in the subject line. The deadline for applications is Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at 5 p.m. ET.
NABH Developing Advocacy Document on Potential Medicaid Changes
NABH is developing an advocacy document to educate policymakers about the risks of proposed changes to Medicaid financing and eligibility.
The analysis will describe how state efforts to offset reduced revenue could exacerbate existing challenges with low reimbursement and narrow networks, and it will outline potential issues with applying work requirements to people with behavioral health conditions.
NABH’s resource will emphasize the critical need for Medicaid as a funding source for behavioral healthcare organizations, particularly Opioid Treatment Programs.
ICYMI: NABH Launches ‘Safe Connections’ to Promote Awareness About Youth Mental Health
NABH recently launched Safe Connections, a campaign intended to educate policymakers, parents, and the public about the effects of social media on our nation’s youth and to provide tools and resources to help keep kids safe online.
The NABH Youth Services Committee, under the direction of Committee Chair Jameson Norton, M.B.A., FACHE, chief operating officer at Newport Healthcare, oversaw the campaign’s vision and purpose, and Donald Grant, Ph.D., with Newport Healthcare, helped developed the campaign’s resources.
Please visit our Youth Services landing page to access our first two resources: Youth Social Media Use and Mental Health and Misinformation, Malinformation, Disinformation, and Fake News. The page also includes the American Psychological Association’s recent recommendations about healthy teen video viewing that Don Grant also helped to develop.
NABH will promote the campaign’s resources on X and LinkedIn and will update the Youth Services page to include social media messages for you and your teams to share.
Please be sure to look for new resources in the future, starting with two fact sheets about cyberaggression that NABH will release this month.
Fact of the Week
After declining significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic, substance use among adolescents has continued to hold steady at lowered levels for the fourth year in a row, according to the latest results from the National Institutes for Health-funded Monitoring the Future Survey.
For questions or comments about this CEO Update, please contact Jessica Zigmond