Please Join Us for Our Annual Meeting Workforce Panel on Tuesday, May 14!
Building on last year’s success, the NABH Education and Research Foundation will host a panel discussion featuring NABH members and workforce consultants during the
2024 Annual Meeting on
Monday, May 13 from 4 p.m. – 5 p.m. ET.
This year’s panel will focus on NABH member best workforce practices, workforce development boards, apprenticeships, fellowships, and other “grow your own” programs. It will feature the following panelists:
Jason Brooks, Senior Vice President of Human Resources, New Season
Rhonda Ashley-Dixon, Vice President, Strategic Partnerships & Engagement,
Vanderbilt Behavioral Health
Beth Kuhn, Principal, Stonegate Strategies and former Commissioner,
Kentucky Department of Workforce Investment
John Pallasch, Founder and CEO, One Workforce Solutions and former
U.S. Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training, U.S. Labor Department
The Foundation urges NABH members to attend the session and engage with panelists during the question-and-answer period.
Also, please remember to
register for the Annual Meeting and
reserve your hotel room if you haven’t done so yet. We look forward to seeing you in Washington!
Learn About Long-term Solutions in the Fight for Talent!
Please join us for the
NABH Education and Research Foundation’s second in its two-part webinar series about recruiting and retaining talent on
Thursday, April 18 from 2 p.m. – 3 p.m.
NABH Board Chair
Frank Ghinassi, Ph.D., A.B.P.P., who serves as president and CEO of Rutgers University Behavioral Health Care and senior vice president of the Behavioral Health and Addictions Service Line at RWJBarnabas Health, will co-lead this interactive webinar with workforce consultants
Beth Kuhn of Stonegate Strategies and
John Pallasch of One Workforce Solutions.
Kuhn has more than 30 years of workforce experience and served previously as commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Workforce Investment and as Vermont’s director of workforce development. Pallasch has spent more than 20 years influencing organizational personnel, efficiency, and productivity in the public and private sectors and served previously as the assistant secretary for employment and training at the U.S. Labor Department.
Together they will present practical approaches to attracting and keeping top talent, such as developing partnerships and offering apprenticeship programs. Participants will come away with some applicable next steps to employ in their own systems to set the foundation for long-term solutions.
Please click here to register and be sure to alert your members of your Human Resources, Operations, and Workforce Engagement teams to attend!
NABH Comments to Federal Agencies About Proposed BHIT Data Standards
NABH on March 29 submitted
comments to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) on their joint effort to create official data standards for behavioral health information technology (IT). In addition to the association sending a comment letter, NABH members concurrently responded to the related online survey about potential behavioral health data items.
As we know, behavioral healthcare providers were not eligible recipients of the
HITECH Act of 2009 funding, and, as such, most IT vendors did not develop viable BHIT systems or tools at that time or since. More than 15 years after HITECH became law, our country needs a federal investment in BHIT to help our field align with the IT capacity of the rest of the continuum of healthcare providers.
Our comments emphasized that a significant portion of our membership lacks an IT system compliant with the ONC standards set in 2015. As a result, many in our field face reduced efficiency and more administrative burden. We also noted that on the policy front, the ongoing use of outdated IT reduces the field’s ability to engage in recent policy initiatives that require modern interoperability.
NABH recommended that the new behavioral health language include data metrics for behavioral health populations that tend to be overlooked by behavioral health IT system modules, such as for patients experiencing suicidality or the potential of harm to self or others; substance use disorder patients; patients in intensive outpatient programs or partial hospitalization programs; and adolescent and youth populations.
Our letter also recommended social determinants of health to include in the new standards. In addition, we urged the initiative to consider data terms related to the emerging use of artificial intelligence within behavioral healthcare settings.
Because this is a top priority of NABH, we urged SAMHSA and ONC to work closely with providers and other stakeholders on this long-awaited investment. This collaboration is of highest importance because it is expected that the data standards that emerge from this project will be used in future standards for BH electronic medical records.
NABH Weighs in On Physical Holds for Children and Youth in Joint Commission Letter
In a
letter to The Joint Commission (TJC) this week, NABH noted that The Joint Commission’s proposal to modify standards on the use of physical holds for children and youth would affect NABH-member group homes, foster care, non-hospital residential treatment programs, and perhaps others – many of which are accredited by the Council on Accreditation.
The Joint Commission’s proposed change would combine the current physical holding standards for children and youth with existing standards for restraints and seclusions for all individuals served.
Because the brief proposal lacks a clear rationale, NABH’s letter outlined several key elements that stakeholders need before responding to the proposal. Specifically, we asked for a comprehensive policy justification and evidence, impact estimate, and explanation of any link between this proposal and efforts to combat workplace violence.
NABH also requested a meeting with The Joint Commission to learn more about the proposal.
Reminder: U.S. Labor Department Seeks Information in Parity Enforcement Survey
The U.S. Labor Department is conducting an 11-question survey to better understand stakeholder views about the department’s federal parity law oversight and enforcement efforts.
In particular, the survey focuses on compliance enforcement for non-quantitative treatment limitations, which include prior authorization protocols, network adequacy standards, and timeliness requirements.
Click
here to complete the survey, which opened on Wednesday, March 27 and closes on
Wednesday, April 10.
Reminder: Please Submit Data to NABH’s Denial-of-Care Portal
NABH thanks all members who have submitted data to the association’s
Denial-of-Care Portal. You have provided critical information that expands the portal and helps NABH strengthen its advocacy efforts related to erroneous prior-authorization denials.
With guidance from our members, NABH has improved the portal by adding two elements:
- Time-based data on the number of days between a request for coverage and a plan’s denial, which improves our ability to assess and compare health plan responsiveness.
- The gap between days of provided care versus days of covered care to quantify and compare uncompensated days per health plan.
We strongly encourage all NABH members to submit their denial-of-care data in the portal. If you need help starting, or if you have other questions, please e-mail NABH Associate Manager for Congressional Affairs
Emily Wilkins.
Fact of the Week
A new telehealth
study focused on patients with Alcohol Use Disorder showed some groups were less likely to receive any video telehealth than telephone visits, suggesting that multiple treatment modalities should remain available to ensure treatment access.
For questions or comments about this CEO Update, please contact Jessica Zigmond.