HHS Leaders Encourage States to Prioritize Efforts to Support Children’s Mental Health
Following Tuesday’s shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas—the deadliest U.S. school shooting in 10 years in which a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers—U.S. Health and Human Services Department (HHS) agency leaders sent a joint letter to states, tribes, and jurisdictions urging them to maximize and prioritize their efforts to strengthen children’s mental health and well-being.
According to the
National Survey of Children’s Health, the number of children ages 3-17 years diagnosed with anxiety grew by 29% and those with depression by 27% between 2016 and 2020. Meanwhile, there was a 21% increase in children diagnosed with behavioral or conduct problems between 2019-2020.
The
letter provided a list of existing opportunities, partnerships, grants, and programs that states, tribes, and jurisdictions can access to support children’s mental health. Including HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, leaders from the Administration for Children and Families, Administration for Community Living, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) signed the letter on May 25.
U.S. Surgeon General Releases Advisory on Health Worker Burnout
U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, M.D., M.B.A. this week released
Addressing Health Worker Burnout, a 76-page advisory intended to draw the American people’s attention to an urgent public health issue and provide recommendations about how to manage it.
In a video accompanying the advisory, Murthy noted that 54% of the nation’s physicians and nurses were experiencing burnout before the pandemic began, eight out of 10 health workers have experienced workplace violence, and 66% of U.S. nurses have considered resigning.
“Healthcare systems, health insurance companies, and government must prioritize health worker well-being,” Murthy said in his recorded message. “This means increasing access to mental health services; reducing workplace burdens to prioritize time with patients; and protecting the health and safety of all health workers.”
The advisory includes separate categories describing what healthcare organizations, federal, state, local, and tribal governments, insurers and payers, healthcare technology companies, academic institutions, clinical training programs, and accreditation bodies can do to help address health worker burnout.
George Washington University & Health Landscape Create Mental Health-SUD Workforce Database
With support from a SAMHSA grant, the George Washington University Fitzhugh Mullan Institute for Health Workforce Equity and data research firm Health Landscape have developed a national database on the country’s mental health and substance use disorder workforce to provide evidence-based support for creating policy and targeting resources appropriately.
The new
Behavioral Health Workforce Tracker is a comprehensive national database that identifies almost 1.2 million behavioral health providers, including more than 600,000 behavioral health specialists, including psychiatric and addiction medicine specialists, psychologists, counselors, and therapists; about 400,000 primary care physicians and advanced practice providers who provided 11 more behavioral health medications, and an additional 173,556 physician specialists who also wrote more than 11 behavioral health medications.
Click
here to learn more about the database.
National Academies’ Forum on Mental Health and SUD to Host Workshop on Early Intervention for Psychosis
The National Academies’ Forum on Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders will host a public workshop this summer that focuses on early intervention for psychosis, current data on the epidemiology and outcomes for people at high risk for psychosis and those who have experienced a first psychosis, and ways to improve care for these patients.
Sessions will provide an overview of the epidemiology for people with psychosis, discuss what services are available and highlight successful models of care, and examine policy solutions and strategies that are most effective for coordinated specialty services.
The workshop will be held on Monday, July 11 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET. Click
here to register.
NABH Working to Enhance Denial-of-Care Portal
NABH’s Denial-of-Care Portal is temporarily unavailable as the association works to enhance features of this member-only resource.
NABH developed the portal so members could submit individual examples of claim denials or upload multiple entries via Excel. It also includes sections on appeals and physician participation and is intended to help the association in its advocacy efforts with policymakers and regulators.
NABH will keep members apprised of when the updated portal is ready to use.
NABH 2022 Annual Meeting Hotel Reservation Cutoff Date is Wednesday, June 1
The Mandarin Oriental Washington, DC has extended the hotel reservation cutoff date for the 2022 NABH Annual Meeting this coming
Wednesday, June 1, 2022. Please be sure to
reserve your hotel room today!
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
There has been a 213% increase in the death rate of Black men from drug overdoses from 2015 to 2020, the American Psychological Association
reports. Before 2015, Black men were considerably less likely than both White men and American Indian or Alaska Native men to die from drug overdoses. Since then, the death rate among Black men has more than tripled.
For questions or comments about this CEO Update, please contact Jessica Zigmond
