NABH President and CEO Mark Covall to Retire; Shawn Coughlin Named as Successor
NABH President and CEO Mark Covall announced this week his plans to retire on Dec. 31, 2019 after more than 35 years with the association and 24 years as its president and CEO.
The NABH Board of Trustees subsequently named Shawn Coughlin, the association’s executive vice president for government relations and public policy, as NABH’s next president and CEO, effective Jan. 1, 2020.
“It has been a privilege to work closely for decades with people who manage and provide life-saving behavioral healthcare services to some of the most vulnerable citizens in our country,” Covall said in a news
release this week about the transition. “For years, I’ve also enjoyed working with skilled and dedicated teams here in Washington who have helped expand our services and change U.S. public policy.”
After he retires, Covall will serve as executive vice chairman of the NABH Board of Trustees for a two-year term.
“I am honored to serve as NABH’s president and CEO after Mark’s long and impressive tenure,” Coughlin said in the news release. “Mark has been a mentor to me for nearly 20 years. His knowledge of—and passion for—improving mental health and addiction treatment services in the United States is unmatched.”
NABH Submits Recommendations to CMS on Bundled Rates for OTPs
NABH outlined a series of recommendations to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in its Sept. 27 comment
letter about the agency’s proposed physician fee schedule rule for 2020 that implements the
Substance Use Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment for Patients and Communities (SUPPORT) Act.
In the letter, NABH President and CEO Mark Covall highlighted that the value of a payment bundle is to simplify payment mechanisms in a way that treatment providers receive adequate compensation for treatment and patients receive the right care, in the right setting, at the right time.
“Bundles that are highly prescriptive tend to disempower providers by directing medical decision-making,” Covall wrote. “At the same time, highly prescriptive bundles disempower patients by forcing them to engage in unnecessary and potentially burdensome care.”
Covall also noted that because CMS’ proposed service model exceeds workforce capacity, “…the CMS proposal would put all OTPs at risk of not complying with the terms of the bundle and threaten the existing infrastructure and constrict treatment capacity at a time when more treatment is needed.”
NABH Submits Comments to CMS on PHP Rates and Price Transparency
NABH has recommended that CMS establish a task force to review and discuss improving the availability of partial hospitalization programs (PHPs) for Medicare beneficiaries.
This suggestion was part of NABH’s Sept. 27 public comment
letter to CMS on the agency’s proposed Outpatient Prospective Payment and Ambulatory Surgical Center Payment Systems (OPPS) and Quality Reporting Programs for 2020. Currently, 47.9 percent of NABH members offer PHP services, and more than 32.5 percent offer PHP addiction services.
“We recommend that CMS include NABH, the Association for Ambulatory Behavioral Healthcare, the National Council for Behavioral Health, a sampling of PHP providers from the membership of each organization, Mental Health America, and the National Alliance on Mental Illness in this task force,” Mark Covall wrote in NABH’s letter. “We believe that together, CMS and these organizations can produce actionable steps to ensure Medicare beneficiaries continue to have the necessary and appropriate access to PHP services.”
NAMI Releases First Free Online Class for Parents of Children with Mental Illness
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) has announced
NAMI Basics OnDemand, a free, six-session education program for parents, caregivers, and other family who provide care for youth aged 22 or younger who are experiencing mental health symptoms.
For the last 10 years, NAMI Affiliates have offered NAMI Basics in an in-person, group setting, serving about 20,000 participants in 43 states nationwide. This new resource meets an increasing demand for the program.
“We know parents face barriers to attending an in-person class, especially when a child may be experiencing mental health challenges, but that’s when this information is needed the most,” NAMI Acting CEO Angela Kimball said in a news release. “We hope by providing this free, online course of NAMI Basics OnDemand, we’ll reach more people when and where it’s easiest for them to access this vital information,” she added. “We want parents to get the resources they need and to realize they are not alone.”
The program’s six sessions focus on basic elements of coping with mental health conditions; brain biology and getting a diagnosis; communication skills and crisis preparation; treatment and connecting with others by sharing your story; navigating the mental health and education systems; and self-care and advocacy.
ASAM Seeks Public Comment on Clinical Practice Guideline
The American Society of Addiction Medicine is seeking both member and public comment on the draft of the society’s latest clinical practice guideline on alcohol withdrawal management in both inpatient and outpatient settings.
Click
here to learn about the methodology and for a copy of the draft guideline. The deadline to submit all comments is Monday, Oct. 7.
National Addiction Treatment Week is Oct. 21-27, 2019
The American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) will host
National Addiction Treatment Week from Oct. 21-27, 2019 to raise awareness about the gap in certified addiction medicine care and treatment.
The week is also meant to expand the qualified workforce and build awareness around the important need for clinicians to enter the field of addiction medicine.
To participate, follow @TreatmentWeek on Twitter and use #hashtag #TreatmentWeek to share your messages about addiction care and treatment.
Register Today for the NABH 2020 Annual Meeting!
Registration has opened for the NABH 2020 Annual Meeting,
Expanding Access: Right Care. Right Setting. Right Time.
Please visit NABH’s Annual Meeting
homepage today to register for the Annual Meeting and also make your hotel reservation at the Mandarin Oriental Washington, DC from March 16-18, 2020.
We hope to see you next March!
Fact of the Week
The aggregate production quote of oxycodone (APQ) in the United States—which the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) establishes annually—increased more than 400
percent between 2002 and 2013. It wasn’t until 2017 that DEA significantly reduced the APQ for oxycodone, by 25 percent.
For questions or comments about CEO Update, please contact Jessica Zigmond.