Thursday, May 18, 2023
IHA Partner: Responding to Staff Emotional Well-being
Care Management Webinar: Substance Use Disorder
NIMH, AHRQ Mental Health Resources
New Resources on Mental Health Services for Students
Illinois COVID-19 Data
Briefly Noted
IHA Partner: Responding to Staff Emotional Well-being
To address burnout in healthcare, hospitals that respond to the emotional needs of frontline workers in real time can have a positive impact on those experiencing on-the-job stress. A program called “Code Lavender" relies on a team of responders who spend 15-30 minutes one-on-one with the clinician in need, following a script to provide support.
An educational webinar from IHA Strategic Partner Medical Solutions and Matchwell, “Code Lavender: Not your typical code,” details the program’s response recommendations and interventions. Bree Becker, clinical and quality director at Matchwell, a Medical Solutions company, identifies why it’s important for hospitals to enhance their employee engagement efforts.
“With a focus on mental health becoming more of a priority for organizations, this is a great time to learn what your organization can do to show that you care about your workforce,” she says in the webinar. “It will also help you stand out when recruiting new talent.”
See a Medical Solutions flyer about Code Lavender, its benefits, and how to adopt the program in your hospital or health system.
Medical Solutions is one of the nation’s largest healthcare talent ecosystems and an IHA Strategic Partner since 2018. Contact Mike Daeges at 402-986-5153 or mdaeges@medicalsolutions.com to learn more.
Contact us with questions.
Care Management Webinar: Substance Use Disorder
The University of Illinois Chicago College of Nursing (UIC CON) is hosting a care management webinar entitled “The Recovery Continuum, Harm Reduction and Evidence-Based Practices for Substance Use Disorders.” The webinar will be held June 1 from 1-3 p.m. Click here to register.
Dr. Nicole Gastala from the Division of Substance Use Prevention and Recovery will lead the training, which will provide a broad overview, applicable to care management for many people who experience substance use disorder.
For attending this webinar live, UIC CON will offer a certificate of completion to all attendees, as well as two Continuing Education Units (CEUs) for healthcare professionals specializing in social work/counseling, occupational therapy, nursing and nursing home administration.
If you are unable to attend, the recorded webinar will be available on the Colbert & Williams website here. Although the webinar is part of the Colbert & Williams consent decree training program, the scope of the content goes beyond community reintegration and transition services. Attendance at the live webinar is required for a certificate of completion and/or CEUs.
NIMH, AHRQ Mental Health Resources
May is National Mental Health Awareness Month, an annual observance established to increase awareness about the vital role mental health plays in our overall health and well-being.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that in 2021 two in five adults in the U.S. reported symptoms of anxiety and depression. Recent CDC data also reveal concerning increases among teen girls and LGBQ+ youth reporting extremely high levels of mental distress, violence and substance use.
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) offers a variety of resources to help clinicians, researchers and policymakers better understand and address mental health-related conditions. The AHRQ Academy for Integrating Behavioral Health and Primary Care offers resources to support treatment and care for patients with mental health conditions and address substance abuse, including:
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Integrating Behavioral Health and Primary Care Playbook, a guide to integrate behavioral health in primary care and other ambulatory care settings to help improve healthcare delivery and outcomes.
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Substance Use Resources, providing tools for primary care and ambulatory practice providers treating substance use disorders.
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Topic Briefs, providing timely information in succinct formats to address emerging topics for those working in integrated behavioral health, as well as primary and ambulatory care settings.
The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) has also provided tips and resources intended to help people care for their mental health. NIMH has also provided a toolkit intended to raise awareness about mental health needs, self-care and seeking professional help when needed.
New Resources on Mental Health Services for Students
Today, on the Mental Health Awareness Day of Action, the Biden-Harris Administration announced its plan to make it easier for schools to provide critical healthcare services, especially mental health services, for millions of students across the nation.
Through a series of new announcements from the U.S. Departments of Education (ED) and Health and Human Services (HHS), the Administration announced it is continuing to take a whole-of-government approach to meet families where they are and ensure that children have access to the healthcare they need – especially mental health services.
Specifically, ED is proposing a new rule that would streamline Medicaid billing permissions for students with disabilities. ED predicts of the 500,000 new students who are found eligible under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Part B each year, nearly 300,000 are likely to be eligible for Medicaid and impacted by this rule. HHS is issuing new guidance to make it easier for schools to bill Medicaid.
Also, HHS released a Comprehensive Guide to Medicaid Services and Administrative Claiming for Medicaid school-based services to make it easier for schools, and their healthcare partners, to deliver and receive payment for healthcare services to millions of eligible students.
According to a news release, this comes on the heels of ED’s announcement earlier this week on the latest tranche of awards to train school-based mental health professionals through the Mental Health Service Professionals demonstration program, which provided another nearly $100 million in awards as part of an overall appropriation of $1 billion for school-based mental health services and supports through the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.
These announcements build on actions HHS, ED and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services have reportedly taken over the last year to expand access to school-based healthcare and trauma informed services.
Illinois COVID-19 Data
With the state of Illinois and the nation ending the Public Health Emergency (PHE) last week, the Illinois Dept. of Public Health (IDPH) announced it is shifting to a new cadence for data reporting and will release updates every other week. The next update will be May 26. IDPH will continue to report COVID-19 data on the weekly number of people admitted to hospitals from emergency departments, deaths and vaccinations, as well through the dashboard of the Illinois Wastewater Surveillance System.
Briefly Noted
Inequity in healthcare for racial and ethnic minorities cost the U.S. more than $451 billion in 2018, according to research published in JAMA. This economic burden is driven by the high cost of medical care associated with poor health, lost labor market productivity and the value of excess premature death. The study also found that “the burden of health inequities for adults without a four-year college degree was $940 billion.”
New numbers posted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that drug overdose deaths in the U.S. plateaued for most of last year after two big spikes during the pandemic. According to the AP, the CDC said an estimated 109,680 overdose deaths occurred in 2022, which is an approximately 2% increase from 2021 overdose deaths at 107,622. In 2020, the CDC reported a 30% increase in overdose deaths, followed by a 15% increase in 2021.