A whirlwind of events over the past few months has added daily stressors to our lives, making it harder to cope, let alone thrive. A healthy approach to nutrition helps us manage external stressors an...
The COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe in 2020, hitting the United States especially hard beginning in March. Seemingly overnight, massive shutdowns were implemented, upending family schedules as s...
The global coronavirus pandemic has had world-wide mental health repercussions. Long-term stress has exacerbated existing behavioral health conditions, and social isolation has increased feelings of l...
Rural, isolated regions have historically lacked resources and infrastructure to adequately address the behavioral healthcare needs of its population. People living in remote areas have limited access...
COVID-19 changed everything we thought we knew about how to run our day to day lives, including the way we work. If you’re a behavioral health therapist who was suddenly thrust into the world of...
If you have teenagers in your life, you’ve probably seen firsthand how COVID-19 has uprooted their lives and norms. But until recently, most research focused on how adults and younger children are c...
Value based payments are here to stay. Figuring out how to measure your outcomes to get paid for your work is just one of the challenges behavioral health organizations face as they plan for the futur...
Depression is prevalent among patients with chronic physical conditions. Because a client’s physical well-being significantly impacts behavioral health outcomes and vice-versa, it’s important ...
COVID-19 upended life as we know it. Although some states have eased initial lockdown restrictions, indoor gatherings of unrelated people remain risky, according to the Centers for Disease Control and...
All behavior is learned and displayed within the contexts of society. Each individual’s culture is a unique blend of ethnicity, demographics, socioeconomic status, language, and affiliations. If pra...
Outpatient behavioral healthcare programs put immeasurable effort into addressing the needs of their clients. Unfortunately, workforce shortages, reimbursement delays, and detailed reporting for accre...
Treating Substance Use Disorder (SUD) is much like managing any other chronic illness–the goal is to reduce problematic symptoms and improve the overall health and well-being of the patient. SUD...
Electronic Health Records (EHRs) are no longer a luxury. If you want to thrive in the modern behavioral health world, it’s imperative that you find one that fits your organization’s unique...
While people do benefit from individual therapy for substance use disorder, group therapy is proving to be an essential component of treatment for more meaningful patient outcomes. Narcotics Anonymous...
There’s some great news for the behavioral health community from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS): HHS announced that they are making approximately $15 billion available to Medicaid...
For quite some time, insurers and healthcare providers have been moving towards a value-based healthcare model, and away from the traditional fee-for-service payment system. In value-based care, provi...
There are numerous challenges that come with running a residential behavioral healthcare program. The tangled web of paperwork, accreditation, and compliance standards can be a real headache for those...
The financial impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on businesses can not be understated. No industry has been immune, but some, including behavioral health, have been hit harder than others. Stay...
During the COVID-19 outbreak, residential behavioral healthcare facilities continue to provide vital around-the-clock services to their communities. Unfortunately, residents and staff are particularly...
The field of behavioral healthcare has changed. 60-65% of human service agencies bound to a fee-for-service model fail. Medicaid margins are razor thin when you consider the exceedingly low payments m...
For patients battling substance use disorder, each day brings new challenges as they manage their addiction and take small steps towards recovery. Coping with sobriety during a pandemic, with social d...
Too often, society treats substance misuse as a criminal or social problem rather than a health condition. Treatment and prevention services are traditionally separated from general healthcare. Such s...
Behavioral healthcare is changing. Focus is shifting away from traditional fee-for-service (FFS) systems to value-based payments (VBP). These new payment methods link reimbursements with improved perf...
Addiction is defined as a chronic, relapsing disorder characterized by compulsive drug seeking, continued use despite harmful consequences, and long-lasting changes in the brain. It can affect familie...
Our country faces a substance abuse epidemic. Over 20 million Americans have some form of Substance Use Disorder. Wide-spread addiction problems irreparably harm individuals and families. According to...
Part Three in a Series According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), about 52% of employers in the United States have trouble filling critical roles. Yet more than one in four workers...
Have you ever set sail without knowing where you would land, or started a road trip unsure of the final destination? Of course not! You might not plot out each stop along the way, but you need a clear...
Whether yours is a for profit or nonprofit facility, behavioral healthcare is ultimately a business. Your facility needs to operate in a financially responsible manner and pay its expenses based on re...
With the outbreak of Coronavirus, everyday life has become difficult for millions of people across the globe. The disease, also known as COVID-19, is highly infectious and can have varying effects on ...
The healthcare space is in the process of a challenging transition to value-based care. The expectation that most organizations can make the transition in a year or two is overly optimistic. Complete ...
Substance use is becoming a common trend among adolescents. A 2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health in the United States shows that an estimated 164.8 million people aged 12 years or older were ...
Psychiatric nurse practitioners are instrumental in providing treatment and helping patients cope with psychiatric disorders including ADHD, PTSD, mood disorders, and anxiety, as well as a whole host ...
Part Two in a Series Employee retention is a tremendous problem in the American behavioral healthcare system. In a 2018 survey of more than 600 treatment professionals, 60% claimed that their clinic...
Access to behavioral health therapy is quite different now compared to the way clients accessed sessions a few years ago. Telehealth is becoming an important part of mental health treatment, but it’...
Our country faces a crisis. Communities across the nation are stricken with substance abuse and mental illness. Data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Association (SAMHSA) reveal nea...
With opioid addiction reaching critical levels, finding alternative options for pain management is vital. It’s time for medical practitioners to start investigating other forms of treatment for ...
First in a Series In order to truly provide top-notch care for your clients, you need an all-star team of professionals working around you. Physicians, case workers, therapists, nurses, and billers, t...
Smartphones were first introduced to the mass market in 2007. While there are both positives and negatives that have come from using this innovative technology, the change in culture and society–...
It’s not uncommon for electronic health record (EHR) software implementation to be met with some resistance. Transitioning from a paper-based environment to one reliant on an electronic system can b...
As our health system continues to change for both primary and behavioral healthcare, a lot of discussion is taking place about the collaboration and integration of these two systems. As with any chang...
Mental healthcare is a booming business. It is also unique because discussions about profit, using the word “sales”, and the downsides of this industry are rarely, if ever, spoken about. I...
Value-based care is a reality that service providers are going to have to deal with over the next two years. For behavioral health, it will bring some large and significant changes on how care is prov...
Methadone maintenance has been used in the United States for approximately 50 years as an effective treatment for opioid addiction. Yet many myths about its use persist, discouraging patients from usi...
Addiction is a complex but treatable disease that affects brain function and behavior. Drugs of abuse alter the brain’s structure and function, resulting in changes that persist long after dru...
Walmart has become the first employer to use data to rate providers’ effectiveness and value. They evaluate how many patients a physician has cared for, or how much experience they have in a specifi...
Gone are the days when keeping patient records and maintaining appointment schedules is done on paper. The advancements in software technology have transformed the way programs maintain their clinical...
Back when I was the director of a large psychiatric rehabilitation program, I really could have used the data that can be collected on an interactive EHR dashboard. The dashboard would have provided m...
David Ballenberger, Director of Business Development for NextStep Solutions, discusses the changes that are on the horizon for behavioral health EHRs. The need to offer documented value to your practi...
Social media marketing for health care? Using social media marketing for health care has it’s challenges – but it also has its benefits. In this episode of the Bu$iness of Mental Heal...
Evidence-based collaborative care programs are patient-centered and provide integrated care for medical and mental health needs in primary care and other mental health settings. Over 30 stud...
Those of us who work in behavioral health know that being able to manage system change is simply a part of the job. In those years when we did everything on paper, the changes were often administrativ...
Often when people discuss methadone as a viable treatment option, you get a lot of myth mixed in with the truth, because everything you hear is not based on fact. Methadone is one option for the treat...
A lot of discussion that takes place around electronic health records is rarely about the system’s ability to provide marketing tools. Often, the discussion centers on the clinical abilities o...
When choosing an EHR, much of the discussion surrounds how it will benefit the organization. But what does a Behavioral Health EHR provide for the patient? Improved behavioral health care. ...
Dave Ballenberger discusses the advantages and benefits that digital pen technology can provide your behavioral health organization when your clinicians are with clients outside of the office. Pati...
Can your Electronic Health Record add, subtract, multiply and divide? I can remember standing at the back of the room waiting for Sister Theresa to give me a math problem that I would have to figure i...
Why are client portals more important than you think? Client portals create the means for the exchange of information between clients and clinicians. What was once considered a nice option for your EH...
Have you ever tried to back up EHR clinical data? If so, you know that it’s difficult to do because backup often has to be started manually, and it’s dependent on a server that can g...
