Provider Relief Fund Reporting Portal Now Open for Period 5
The Health Resources and Services Administration has announced that the Provider Relief Fund (PRF) Reporting Portal is now open for Reporting Period 5.
Recipients who received one or more General Distribution, Targeted Distribution, or ARP Rural Distribution payments exceeding $10,000, in the aggregate, from Jan. 1, 2022 to June 30, 2022 are required to report on the use of their payments during Reporting Period 5.
This latest reporting period will close at 11:59 p.m. ET on Sept. 30, 2023. Click
here to learn more.
NIH Research Shows Lack of Buprenorphine for Adolescents in RTFs
Only one in four residential treatment facilities that treat adolescents in the United States for opioid use disorder offer buprenorphine, the sole U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved medication for 16- to 18-year-olds, the National Institutes of Health (NIH)
reports.
An NIH-funded research team identified 354 facilities nationwide that offered treatment for substance use in a residential treatment setting for people aged 17 and younger. Researchers called each facility to inquire about the treatments offered, and, in each case, a researcher posed as the relative of a 16-year-old with a recent, non-fatal fentanyl overdose. They found that 160 of these facilities, or 45%, provided residential treatment to patients younger than 18 years old.
Of the facilities that treated adolescents, only 39, or less than 25%, offered buprenorphine to 16- to 18-year-old patients. In contrast, almost two-thirds of adult residential facilities offer buprenorphine. The likelihood of offering buprenorphine varied by region, from 40% in the Northeast to 18% in the West, the NIH reports.
Meanwhile, the situations in which facilities offered buprenorphine also varied. Only 20 facilities—or one in eight—offered buprenorphine for ongoing treatment, and 12 offered it to patients younger than 16.
“These residential treatment centers see some of the most vulnerable adolescents in our communities,” lead researcher Caroline King, M.P.H., and an M.D./Ph.D. student in the Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine, said in an NIH announcement about the findings. “But they don’t offer the standard of care for these kids. With rising fentanyl-related overdoses among adolescents, we really need these centers to provide the best care.”
In Case You Missed It: NABH Education & Research Foundation Workforce Resources
If you missed the 2023 Annual Meeting, be sure to access the workforce resources that the NABH Education and Research Foundation featured at the meeting and are available on the Foundation’s
Resources page.
First, watch speaker John Pallasch’s
presentation and listen to the question-and-answer period from NABH members.
Pallasch, founder and CEO of workforce consultancy One Workforce Solutions, served previously as the Senate-confirmed assistant secretary for employment and training at the U.S. Labor Department. Pallasch’s presentation challenged attendees to think beyond recruitment and retention and instead focus on re-designing the U.S. workforce system. He offered practical ideas for how NABH members can get involved in this process.
Also be sure to use the
workforce resource guide that the Foundation co-branded with One Workforce Solutions. The guide includes links to state workforce agencies, workforce development boards, and more.
Reminder: Please Submit Data to Enhance NABH’s Managed-Care Advocacy Efforts
Thank you to all members who have submitted data to NABH’s denial-of-care portal!
We are still seeking data from additional members to support advocacy on health plan denials and prior-authorization timeliness. If you are a new participant, please e-mail NABH Administrative Coordinator
Emily Wilkins for support.
Fact of the Week:
New antitransgender legislation passed in several U.S. states is raising concern among psychologists about the effect on the mental health of
trans individuals—in particular children and teens—as well as members of the LGBTQ+ community, the American Psychological Association
reports.
For questions or comments about this CEO Update, please contact Jessica Zigmond.