Please Update Your Member Information for the 2023 NABH Membership Directory!
NABH is developing its online-only 2023 Membership Directory, an essential member benefit that helps the association in its advocacy efforts.
Earlier this week NABH sent members a link to the association’s membership-update tool. To help ensure we have the most accurate information on our members, please use the link to verify your system’s information.
The answers to these questions will help us provide a more accurate description of our diverse membership to policymakers, regulators, partner organizations, and the media.
Please be sure to enter information for all your system’s facilities so that we have a better picture of our membership.
The deadline to submit your changes to NABH is
Wednesday, Sept. 13. If you need assistance, please contact Maria Merlie
maria@nabh.org or 202-393-6700, ext. 104.
As always, thank you for your time and for all you do to advance NABH’s Mission and Vision!
NABH Board Members Comment On SAMHSA’s 2023-2026 Strategic Plan
NABH Board Chair Harsh Trivedi, M.D., M.B.A. this week commented on behalf of the association about the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) 2023-2026
Strategic Plan.
Released last week, the plan presents a new person-centered mission and vision and identifies the following five priority areas to better meet the behavioral health needs of individuals, communities, and service providers: Preventing Substance Use and Overdose, Enhancing Access to Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Services, Promoting Resilience and Emotional Health for Children, Youth and Families, Integrating Behavioral and Physical Health Care, and Strengthening the Behavioral Health Workforce.
In a
Behavioral Health Business article published Aug. 23, NABH Board Chair Trivedi supported the plan and emphasized access, behavioral-physical healthcare integration, and preventing substance use and overdose.
“Substance use is a chronic disease. We do not penalize people when their blood sugar goes out of whack or when their blood pressure goes a little too high,” said Trivedi, president and CEO of Sheppard Pratt. “We really do have to think about substance use in a different manner, which is that it’s going to be something that people battle over time. We can’t let a slip up mean that you, essentially, are out of treatment, which is exactly what you wouldn’t do for any other medical condition.”
NABH board member David White, Ph.D., CEO of BayMark Health Services in Lewisville, Texas, was also interviewed for the article and noted that the behavioral healthcare industry needs to see a comprehensive implementation plan.
“This agenda is huge, complex, and high-level,” White said. “The strategy, in most cases, is spot on, but it’s a very heavy lift for the execution phase and requires lots of great people with great abilities to impact each and every area in the way outlined.”
National Quality Forum to Join Joint Commission as An Affiliate
The Joint Commission and National Quality Forum (NQF) announced on Aug. 16 that NQF will join The Joint Commission enterprise, maintaining its independence in convening and developing consensus-based measures, implementation guidance, and practices that benefit all stakeholders.
The organizations said in an
announcement that the affiliation allows The Joint Commission and NQF to build upon their shared expertise in measuring quality and rationalizing the measurement landscape so the focus shifts from competing measures to advancing key outcomes.
In addition, the affiliation is intended to strengthen The Joint Commission’s national and international accreditation and certification processes to be more evidence-based, data-driven, and outcomes-oriented.
Cigna Removes Prior Authorization Requirement for 25% of Medical Services
Cigna Healthcare on Thursday announced it would remove nearly 25% of medical services from prior authorization (or precertification) requirements.
With the removal of these more than 600 additional codes, Cigna Healthcare has now removed prior authorization on more than 1,100 medical services since 2020, with the goal of simplifying the healthcare experience for both customers and clinicians, Cigna said in an
announcement.
More information about Cigna Healthcare’s approach to prior authorizations is available
here.
Health Affairs: Five Urgent Steps to Address Violence Against Nurses in the Workplace
An Op-Ed published in the journal
Health Affairs this week outlined five specific steps to address violence against nurses in the workplace, starting with enacting federal legislation to address workplace violence in healthcare, social service, and other sectors.
Seven authors collaborated on the opinion piece, including several nursing school professors and one psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner at the University of New Mexico College of Nursing.
“We write today, as psychiatric mental health nurses and workplace violence and nursing workforce researchers, to express our alarm: Our nurse colleagues aren’t safe at the bedside,” the authors wrote. “The American Psychiatric Nurses Association reports that fewer than two-thirds of nurses report feeling either safe or very safe at work. As nurses reported in last year in the
National Plan for Health Workforce Well Being, violent injury of nursing staff by patients results in nurses’ short- and long-term disability, psychological stress, post-traumatic stress disorder, burnout, reduced quality of care, errors, and accidents.”
In addition to federal legislation, other steps to address the issue include: emphasizing quality indicators that elevate efforts to protect staff from harm; strengthening data systems to better monitor worker exposure to aggressive events; improving reporting of workplace violence; and holding educational institutions accountable for teaching about quality and safety standards that protect nurses and staff from injury.
DEA and FDA Issue Joint Letter to the Public on Actions to Address Shortages in Prescription Stimulants
Earlier this month the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a joint letter updating the public about the ongoing prescription stimulant shortages affecting patients nationwide and actions to resolve these shortages.
The DEA and FDA said both agencies are committed to working together on this issue and providing up-to-date information to the public.
“The FDA and DEA do not manufacture drugs and cannot require a pharmaceutical company to make a drug, make more of a drug, or change the distribution of a drug,” FDA Commissioner Robert Califf, M.D. and DEA Administrator Anne Milgram wrote in the letter to the public. “That said, we are working closely with numerous manufacturers, agencies, and others in the supply chain to understand, prevent, and reduce the impact of these shortages.
Click
here to read the full letter.
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:
Half of parents say their child’s emotional and physical health has improved over the past year, according to a new Harris
poll. Meanwhile, half also say their schools provide neither academic nor mental health counseling.
For questions or comments about this CEO Update, please contact Jessica Zigmond.