Proposed legislation hopes to add 400 Medicare-funded psychiatric residency positions.
While President Biden may have declared an end to the Covid pandemic, the effects it had on the healthcare system are most certainly going to linger on a bit longer.
One of the hardest hit areas during the last few years was mental and behavioral health, something we’ve talked about before. While the need for these services increased during the pandemic, actual use is another story: usage of these services has dropped steeply during the first months of quarantine and has been one of the slowest healthcare areas to recover.
The good news, however, is that it’s also an area seeing some of the most significant progress as the pandemic era draws to a close.
As reported by Tiffany Ferguson and others during recent episodes on Monitor Monday, the rollout of the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline was one of the biggest stories of the summer. A recent report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) shows that it’s working and working well! Data reveals a 45 percent increase in contacts during the first full month since the rollout compared to the same time period in 2021, which translates to over 150,000 more potentially lifesaving calls, chats, and texts. Response time has dropped from more than two minutes to just 42 seconds with the new hotline as well.
Considering this success, HHS also announced a $35 million grant opportunity to extend the reach of the 988 hotline to tribal communities, which often face issues accessing the technology necessary to interact with such crisis services.
HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra noted that the 988 hotline is just one of many ways the administration intends to transform the mental healthcare system, and the agency added another one of these ways to its list when it approved for Oregon what it hopes to be the first amongst many Medicaid State Plan amendments addressing mental healthcare.
Oregon’s newly approved proposal is a first-of-its-kind Medicaid-supported mobile crisis intervention program. This program will provide immediate assessment, stabilization, and de-escalation assistance for recipients, connecting them with a behavioral health specialist 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, including holidays. It is intended to treat mental and behavioral health conditions, as well as substance use disorders, including opioid use. It will also help coordinate referrals for any other necessary social services. The hope is that this will decrease the need for expensive and extensive inpatient services when that might not be even the best course of treatment.
While Oregon may be the first state to seek and receive approval for its new Medicaid State plan amendment, HHS has strongly encouraged other states to develop similar programs, providing 20 additional state Medicaid agencies with $15 million in planning grants to do so.
Both initiatives, however, are dependent on having enough providers on the other end of the phone, so to speak. And workforce shortages in the field is a pre-pandemic issue that only worsened during the last few years. The Biden administration has certainly consistently signaled its commitment to addressing this, but it isn’t alone in its efforts.
The Senate Finance Committee is also considering multiple pieces of legislation aimed at helping this shortage now and going forward. Currently in its draft stages, the “Behavioral Health Workforce of the Future Act” hopes to shore up the mental and behavioral health workforce by adding 400 Medicare-funded psychiatric residency positions, expanding Medicare’s Health Professional Shortage Area bonus program that provides incentives to those serving in designated areas, requiring new Medicaid guidance to states on how to increase their mental health workforce, and providing new options to hospitals on addressing worker burnout.
With strong bipartisan support, the future of this particular act looks fairly bright.
Election Day has finally arrived – however, some physicians may not be celebrating the new 2025 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) Final Rule that also
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently issued a report titled “Medicare Advantage: Questionable Use of Health
Please log in to your account to comment on this article.
Join Beth Wolf, MD, CPC, CCDS, for an in-depth webcast on the FY2025 spinal fusion MS-DRG updates. Discover key changes in DRG classification, understand impacts on documentation and CMI, and learn strategies to ensure compliance.
Join Angela Comfort, DBA, MBA, RHIA, CDIP, CCS, CCS-P, as she presents effective strategies to strengthen collaboration between CDI, coding, and quality departments in acute care hospitals. Angela will also share guidance on implementing cross-departmental meetings, using shared KPIs, and engaging leadership to foster a culture of collaboration. Attendees will gain actionable tools to optimize documentation accuracy, elevate quality metrics, and drive a unified approach to healthcare goals, ultimately enhancing both patient outcomes and organizational performance.
Optimize your outpatient clinical documentation and gain comprehensive knowledge from foundational practices to advanced technologies, ensuring improved patient care and organizational and financial success. This webcast bundle provides a holistic approach to outpatient CDI, empowering you to implement best practices from the ground up and leverage advanced strategies for superior results. You will gain actionable insights to improve documentation quality, patient care, compliance, and financial outcomes.
Enhancing outpatient clinical documentation is crucial for maintaining accuracy, compliance, and proper reimbursement in today’s complex healthcare environment. This webcast, presented by industry expert Angela Comfort, DBA, RHIA, CDIP, CCS, CCS-P, will provide you with actionable strategies to tackle complex challenges in outpatient documentation. You’ll learn how to craft detailed clinical narratives, utilize advanced EHR features, and implement accurate risk adjustment and HCC coding. The session also covers essential regulatory updates to keep your documentation practices compliant. Join us to gain the tools you need to improve documentation quality, support better patient care, and ensure financial integrity.
Dr. Ronald Hirsch provides critical details on the new Medicare Appeal Process for Status Changes for patients whose status changes during their hospital stay. He also delves into other scenarios of hospital patients receiving custodial care or medically unnecessary services where patient notifications may be needed along with the processes necessary to ensure compliance with state and federal guidance.
Healthcare organizations face complex regulatory requirements under the No Surprises Act and Price Transparency rules. These policies mandate extensive fee disclosures across settings, and confusion is widespread—many hospitals remain unaware they must post every contracted rate. Non-compliance could lead to costly penalties, financial loss, and legal risks. Join David M. Glaser Esq. as he shows you how to navigate these regulations effectively.
Protect your facility from unwanted audits! Join Becky Jacobsen, BSN, RN, MBS, CCS-P, CPC, CPEDC, CBCS, CEMC, and take a deep dive into both the CMS and AMA guidelines for reporting post operative pain blocks. You’ll learn how to determine if the nerve block is separately codable with real life examples for better understanding. Becky will also cover how to evaluate whether documentation supports medical necessity, offer recommendations for stronger documentation practices, and provide guidance on educating providers about documentation requirements. She’ll include a discussion of appropriate modifier and diagnosis coding assignment so that you can be confident that your billing of post operative pain blocks is fully supported and compliant.
During this RACmonitor webcast Dr. Ronald Hirsch spotlights the areas of the OIG’s Work Plan and the findings of their most recent audits that impact utilization review, case management, and audit staff. He also provides his common-sense interpretation of the prevailing regulations related to those target issues. You’ll walk away better equipped with strategies to put in place immediately to reduce your risk of paybacks, increased scrutiny, and criminal penalties.
Copyright © 2024 ICD10monitor. Powered by MedLearn Media.
Prepare for the 2025 CMS IPPS Final Rule with ICD10monitor’s IPPSPalooza! Click HERE to learn more
Get 15% OFF on all educational webcasts at ICD10monitor with code JULYFOURTH24 until July 4, 2024—start learning today!
