GAO Report Identifies Challenges and Opportunities to Recruit and Retain Behavioral Health Workforce
Financial, educational, and workplace challenges are three categories that pose the greatest challenges to recruiting and retaining behavioral health providers, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) concluded in a new report.
The GAO was assigned to review what is known about the behavioral health workforce, offer information regarding both barriers to and incentives for recruiting and retaining providers, and identify what actions various U.S. Health and Human Services department (HHS) agencies are taking to recruit and retain these providers. In its comprehensive review, the GAO interviewed NABH staff as a stakeholder group.
“Reimbursement rates and compensation for behavioral health services are low, according to stakeholders from multiple research organizations and behavioral health associations,” the report noted, adding that many programs designed to recruit diverse behavioral health providers only benefit individuals already studying in a behavioral health field and do not address the lack of a pipeline for underserved populations to enter the workforce.
The GAO recommended that incentives such as loan repayment and scholarships for students seeking behavioral healthcare professions could help to address some of the barriers to entering the field.
Learn more in
highlights from the study and the full
report.
HHS and U.S. Surgeon General’s Office to Host Mental Health Briefing Monday, Oct. 31
HHS and the U.S. Surgeon General’s office will host a briefing on Monday, Oct. 31 to discuss the Surgeon General’s
Framework for Workplace Mental Health & Well-being, which will outline the foundational role that workplaces should play in promoting the health and well-being of workers and communities.
The briefing will highlight the five essentials for workplace mental health and is intended to help organizations develop, institutionalize, and update policies, processes, and practices that best support the mental health and well-being of all workers.
Click
here to register for the 30-minute briefing, which will begin at 1:30 p.m. ET.
Commonwealth Fund Study Examines How Changing Opioid Addiction Treatment Delivery Could Reduce Death and Suffering
A new
study from the Commonwealth Fund analyzes how government regulation and inadequate treatment capacity can limit patients’ access to lifesaving care and what policymakers could do to help combat opioid addiction.
According to the report’s findings, opioids are involved in almost 75% of overdose deaths in the United States, which claim more than 100,000 lives per year. But while opioid addiction can be treated with effective medications, only 10% to 15% of U.S. residents with opioid use disorder receive them.
“During Covid-19, the federal government showed flexibility by allowing OTPs (opioid treatment programs) to provide more take-home methadone doses, allowing buprenorphine treatment initiation via telehealth, and removing buprenorphine waiver training requirements for providers treating 30 or fewer patients,” the report noted. “Data indicate that methadone take-home flexibilities have not been associated with worse outcomes or significant misuse, and telehealth services have been associated with improved medication retention and lower overdose risk,” it continued. “Some of these provisions are temporary and could sunset or change after the COVID-19 public health emergency ends.”
CMS Administrator Brooks-LaSure to Host Webinar Next Week on CMS’ Strategic Plan
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure and her leadership team will provide an update on the agency’s strategic
plan next Tuesday, Nov. 1.
This is the agency’s fourth national stakeholder call with the administrator this year, and it’s intended to provide an opportunity for stakeholders to learn how they can partner with CMS to implement the agency’s strategic plan.
The hourlong call will begin next Tuesday at 3 p.m. ET. Click
here to register.
SAMHSA to Host Behavioral Health Services Information Virtual Workshop on Nov. 2
SAMHSA will host a virtual workshop next week to help providers learn how to access the agency’s available data on Behavioral Health Services Information System (BHSIS) and online treatment locator.
Herman Alvarado, a supervisory social science analyst at SAMHSA’s Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality, will provide an overview for participants. The event is intended to provide technical assistance to National Network to Eliminate in Behavioral Health (NNED) members and minority-service and under-resourced community-based organizations.
The 90-minute virtual workshop will begin at 3 p.m. next Wednesday, Nov. 2. Click
here to register.
NIH’s HEAL Initiative Highlights Examples of Successful Programs to Prevent and Treatment Opioid Misuse and Addiction
The National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Helping to End Addiction Long-term, or HEAL, initiative— a trans-NIH research effort focused on improving prevention and treatment for opioid misuse and addiction and enhancing pain management—recently released examples of programs that have helped some of the youngest patients battling opioid misuse or addiction.
HEAL funds more than 1,000 research projects in every U.S. state and is a $2.5 billion effort that has grown substantially this year, adding 10 new programs and more than 200 new projects that are seeking scientific solutions to prevent overdose and connect people to treatment for pain and addiction.
Click
here to learn about some innovative programs related to mobile apps.
Enhanced NABH Denial-of-Care Portal is Now Available
NABH recently made enhancements to its Denial-of-Care Portal that are intended to make the portal easier for members to use.
A year ago, NABH developed the Denial-of-Care Portal to collect specific data on insurers who deny care—often without regard to parity or the effects on patients. Now the association has updated this resource to make it more user-friendly for members and also more aligned with what regulators need to identify parity violations.
The updated portal includes fewer questions, which will require less time for members to complete. In addition, all questions are now optional. NABH hopes this will make it more likely for members to share the data they have. Lastly, NABH has added a checklist of “red flags” that were included in the
2022 MHPAEA Report to Congress from the U.S. Health and Human Services, Labor, and Treasury Departments in January.
Please e-mail
Emily Wilkins, NABH’s administrative coordinator, if you have questions about the portal.
Save the Date for the NABH 2023 Annual Meeting!
Please mark your calendars and plan to join us in Washington, DC from
June 12-14, 2023 for next year’s NABH Annual Meeting!
Fact of the Week
By 2030, HHS’ Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)
estimates a 20% decrease in the supply of adult psychiatrists to 27,020, while the agency estimates a 22% increase in the supply of child and adolescent psychiatrists to 9,830.
For questions or comments about this CEO Update, please contact Jessica Zigmond.
