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 schools, daycare centers, workplaces, and recreational facilities closed one after another. The pandemic is still going strong...
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 to specialty services for mental health and substance use disorders, creating a rural-urban divide. Fortunately, technological innovation and...
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 teletherapy, you may be wondering whether you're as effective now...
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 coping. Now, a survey conducted in May by the National 4-H Council is...
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 Prevention (CDC). Some communities continue to prohibit them, and nearly all continue to recommend working...
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 practitioners assess and evaluate behavior through a client’s frame of reference, human behavior becomes more evident in light...
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 needs. However, not all EHRs are created equal. To truly transform your practice, you...
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 and CHIP providers experiencing lost revenues or increased expenses due to COVID-19--specifically for those who have...
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 running the facilities. In addition, many administrators see high turnover as unavoidable, and accept claims denials...
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 at home orders have dramatically decreased the ability to conduct in-office visits for...
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 vulnerable to the physical and mental difficulties associated with the coronavirus pandemic. Residential services need to adapt in order to cope with...
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 mental health counselors receive versus the escalating costs of delivering quality care, forcing many direct...
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 distancing orders in place, adds a whole new set of obstacles individuals must overcome to...
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 separation leaves limited options for addiction treatment. Failure to adequately address addiction has led to a crisis,...
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 performance and outcomes. They are designed to hold providers accountable for the quality of care they provide to their clients....
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 different people. According to the World Health Organization, the virus primarily spreads through...
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 transformation may take a long journey and will require careful consideration. So far,...
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 past-month substance users....
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 of other conditions. They work with individuals, families, groups, and communities, assessing their mental health needs before...
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 clinical departments are understaffed, and most pointed the finger at turnover as the main reason...
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’s not as simple as signing on to an online Skype session or Google...
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 nearly 58 million Americans have mental illnesses or substance use disorders, with 9 million adults having...
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 pain and minor mental health issues. According to Medical News Today, more and more studies have shown that...
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 provided and paid for. But in primary care, value-based care...