By Marko Mijic – For individuals living with mental illness and/or substance use disorders, especially those from communities of color, those living in poverty, older adults, and young people, the pathways to care are often confusing, slow, and ineffective. Yet we are amid a societal shift.
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By Jim Szyperski – Despite growing attention to mental health, inpatient psychiatric care remains a neglected and the least digitized sector of healthcare. While hospitals have made enormous strides in optimizing emergency departments, operating rooms, and ICUs with real-time data, the same cannot be said for behavioral health units.
By Ram Krishnan – Navigating payer stipulations in behavioral healthcare can be a challenge, as they are often more complicated than those for physical healthcare. However, understanding how to maintain compliance and bill properly is something that behavioral health clinicians and practice owners have to do to maintain business efficiency, avoid revenue losses, and provide timely care to patients.
In recognition of National Career Development Day, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, an agency within the HHS, announced the launch of the Behavioral Health Workforce Career Navigator, designed to help current and aspiring behavioral health professionals identify state requirements for a range of behavioral health careers.
By Dr. Tom Milam – A projected shortage of nearly 20k physicians by 2050 signals that traditional models of behavioral health care delivery no longer meet the expanding needs of the U.S. population. In fact, they create barriers to timely, affordable treatment for many Americans through extended wait times, high costs, and limited availability.
LEAP in Health IT awardees seek to create methods and tools to improve care delivery, advance research capabilities, and address emerging challenges related to interoperable health IT.
By Javier Favela – Organizations that make moves to adopt a single, robust practice management system and clearinghouse, integrating all claims and financial rules into one cohesive system, can experience successful financial, operational, and clinical outcomes.
Supporting the adoption of health IT and the promotion of nationwide health information exchange to improve health care, here is what is happening at the ONC, including upcoming deadlines for public comments on a new USCDI+ Behavioral Health Data Set and the 2024 SVAP, and details on the USCDI+ Cancer Data Exchange Summit in May.
By Micky Tripathi & Miriam E. Delphin-Rittmon – SAMHSA and ONC will work together to invest more than $20 million of SAMHSA funds over the next three years in an initiative to advance health IT in behavioral health care and practice settings.