CEO Update 222
NABH Sends Telemedicine Proposed Rule Comments to DEA
NABH this week sent a letter to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) opposing various components of DEA’s proposed rule, Special Registrations for Telemedicine and Limited State Telemedicine Registrations, pertaining to clinical practitioners.
“In particular, we are concerned that several requirements misalign with medical practice and would ultimately disrupt access to schedule II-V controlled substances for people with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), anxiety disorders, binge eating disorder (BED), and other behavioral health conditions,” NABH wrote in its letter to DEA Acting Administrator Derek Maltz. “NABH supports establishing a Special Registration that enables practitioners to prescribe Schedule II-V controlled substances via telemedicine without conducting an in-person medical evaluation.”
NABH’s other recommendations include, but are not limited to, streamlining processes,
permitting practitioners to accept patient-submitted documents with their identity information (e.g., photo of patient presenting their photo identification) prior to an initial telemedicine appointment, and removing the requirements for record keeping at a single location and annual data reporting by clinician special registrants because they would present a substantial burden for some behavioral healthcare practitioners who are likely to seek a Special Registration.
Axios Highlights Innovative New Season Clinic
NABH congratulates NABH Board Chair Jim Shaheen and his team at New Season for an innovative effort to expand opioid use disorder (OUD) treatment for people experiencing homelessness in Portland, Ore.
News website Axios reported this week that New Season last September launched a Mobile Medication Unit (MMU), a van-based extension of an Opioid Treatment Program that offers medication for OUD (e.g., methadone, buprenorphine), counseling, and other services. The MMU makes multiple stops across the city, which helps address transportation barriers and enables more convenient access to care.
Despite a regulatory change in 2021 that helped pave the way for MMUs, a variety of challenges inhibit broader implementation. As of September 2024, there were 54 MMUs across the United States.
NABH is eager to hear more stories about our members’ innovative practices. Please email Jessica Zigmond at NABH if you would like to share one.
DEA and HHS Further Delay Buprenorphine Telehealth Rule Implementation
In line with President Trump’s regulatory freeze, DEA and HHS are further delaying the implementation of a final rule issued in January that would allow providers to prescribe buprenorphine for opioid use disorder via telehealth (including audio-only) for up to six months before conducting an in-person medical evaluation.
This rule will partially make permanent the COVID-19 pandemic-era flexibilities for prescribing buprenorphine via telehealth without ever having conducted an in-person medical evaluation.
Originally the rule was scheduled to take effect on Feb.18, 2025 and then delayed until Mar. 21, 2025. The rule is now delayed until Dec. 31, 2025.
Purdue Pharma Proposes New Settlement Agreement
On Tuesday, Purdue Pharma – the manufacturer of OxyContin – proposed a new agreement in bankruptcy court to settle lawsuits related to the company’s role in the overdose crisis. This settlement agreement would involve payments of up to $7 billion.
A previous settlement agreement was ultimately blocked after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled an agreement component that held the company owners immune from future lawsuits was unlawful. The current proposed agreement does not include this immunity.
Meanwhile, there has been controversy surrounding how current opioid settlement dollars are being used, including questionable activities and using them to supplant existing funding sources and fill budget gaps.
Kennedy Renews Nation’s Opioid Crisis as a Public Health Emergency
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. on Tuesday renewed the public health emergency (PHE) declaration to address America’s opioid crisis, which will allow sustained federal coordination efforts and preserve key flexibilities to help HHS respond to the crisis.
“Although overdose deaths are starting to decline, opioid-involved overdoses remain the leading cause of drug-related fatalities,” Kennedy said in an announcement. “This administration is going to treat this urgent crisis in American health as the national security emergency that it is,” he continued.
President Trump first declared the opioid crisis as a PHE during his first presidential term in 2017, and it was set to expire today, March 21, 2025. The renewed declaration extends the PHE for 90 days.
ICYMI: NABH Releases Quality Resources on Patient and Staff Health & Safety
NABH recently developed two quality-related resources to help members learn from their peers and inform policymakers, regulators, and the media about the innovative ways our members are working to protect their patients and staff.
Inpatient Psychiatric Hospitals and Units Implement Effective Violence-Prevention Measures highlights in bullet-list form how inpatient psychiatric hospital providers apply significant prevention protocols beyond existing workplace safety measures that state and federal laws require. Often inpatient psychiatric hospitals employ additional methods that protect staff who treat a range of patients treated in their hospitals, especially those who are admitted because of their violent behaviors.
Meanwhile, in The Right Place at the Right Time: Behavioral Healthcare Solutions to ED Boarding, NABH shares the methods and best practices that association members Avera Behavioral Health Services in South Dakota, Mass General Brigham (an integrated health system that includes NABH member McLean Hospital) in Massachusetts, Rutgers University Behavioral Health Care in New Jersey, and Sharp Mesa Vista in California have developed and implemented successful solutions to the persistent problem of “boarding,” the practice of holding patients with behavioral health conditions in a hospital’s Emergency Department (ED) after admission because no inpatient beds are available.
NABH has posted these factsheets in the Resources section of our homepage and will promote both on LinkedIn at the National Association for Behavioral Healthcare and @NABHBehavioral. Please share these tools with your teams and others who would find the information useful!
The association thanks members of the NABH Quality Committee for their ideas and their help developing these resources.
Register for the 2025 Annual Meeting and View Our Program At-a-Glance!
The 2025 NABH Annual Meeting — Behavioral Health is Everyone’s Concern: Constant Care, Changing Times – is an opportunity for our members to learn about these innovations and for companies to generate business development leads by networking with behavioral healthcare industry leaders.
Please take a moment to view our 2025 Exhibitor and Sponsor Opportunities to learn about the sessions, events, meetings, and services that are available to exhibitors and sponsors at this year’s NABH Annual Meeting and share our 2025 Exhibitor and Sponsor Opportunities with those who might be interested. And many thanks to our exhibitors and sponsors who have committed to supporting this year’s Annual Meeting!
If you haven’t done so yet, please register for the meeting and reserve your hotel room at the Salamander Washington, DC before the hotel cut-off date on Friday, April 18!
Fact of the Week
New provisional data from CDC’s National Vital Statistics System predict a nearly 24% decline in drug overdose deaths in the United States for the 12 months ending in September 2024, compared with the previous year. This is the most recent national data available and shows a continued steep decline in overdose deaths.
For questions or comments about this CEO Update, please contact Jessica Zigmond