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Authors Posts by Jack Phillips

Jack Phillips

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Mr. Phillips is responsible to assist the association with health policy, which primarily includes member communication and advocacy with the Governor’s office, General Assembly, and state regulatory agencies. Mr. Phillips was most recently at the Pennsylvania Department of State as Director of Legislative Affairs.

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Substance Use Disorder Care: Pandemic and Beyond

Thursday, August 13, 2020 – 11:00 am to 12:00 pm

The presentation will review the impact of the current global pandemic on substance use, overdose, and health care utilization. The pandemic has forced health care providers to rapidly adjust the method of care delivery and patient engagement. In particular, telehealth utilization has surged across all specialties including addiction care. We will discuss telehealth legislation and regulation, including temporary waivers that have permitted broader access to care, the evidence to support telehealth for opioid use disorder treatment, specifically, and future considerations once the public health emergency has finally ended.

Webinar Objectives

  • Discuss impact of the pandemic on individuals with substance use disorders
  • Present data regarding overdose, hospital visits, and naloxone utilization during the pandemic
  • Review data on telehealth treatment of substance use disorders
  • Discuss federal and state telehealth legislation, temporary waivers, and role in future expansion of health care access

Presenters

Michael Lynch, MD
Medical Director, Pittsburgh Poison Center
Medical Director, UPMC Health Plan Substance Use Disorder Services
Assistant Professor
Division of Medical Toxicology, Department of Emergency Medicine
Divisions of Adolescent and Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Department of Pediatrics
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Brittney McCarthy
Management Associate
Pennsylvania Association of County Drug and Alcohol Administrators
An Affiliate of the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania

Although this webinar is free of chare, you must register to attend.

This webinar will be recorded and available on the HAP Opioid Learning Action Network website, for those that can not join the live webinar.

Register Today

For registration information, or if you need special accommodations, please contact HAP Education Services at 717-561-5270.

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Nearly 5 months into Pennsylvania’s COVID-19 Response, the need for advocacy is increasing. Together, we must make sure that state and federal bills include nonprofits of all sizes, carving out budget line items allocated to our work, ensuring that regulations do no put undue burdens on operations, and more. Work is happening right now on securing a designated COVID-19 state budget allocation for nonprofits. Time is of the essence.

To best tell our collective story, we are asking you to participate in this statewide COVID-19 Nonprofit Impact Survey.

RCPA is working in collaboration with The Pittsburgh Foundation, the Pennsylvania Association of Nonprofit Organizations (PANO), The Forbes Funds, United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania, professional organizations, human services providers, community foundations, and other funders statewide on this project.

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The PA Care Partnership, a statewide System of Care grant initiative funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS) Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS), Bureau of Children’s Behavioral Health Services, is pleased to announce the Youth Organization Funding Opportunity for the 2020/2021 fiscal year, through their partner, Youth MOVE PA.

Youth MOVE PA will award up to five (5) counties, youth groups, or organizations for the Youth Organization Funding Opportunity in the amount of $10,000 each, to explore innovative options for providing activities that support youth or young adults with complex behavioral health challenges between the ages of birth–21.

DISCLAIMER
The information contained in this message is to provide the most up-to-date facts concerning Federal, State, and County funding opportunities. RCPA staff may assist our members with researching funding programs/issues and providing basic answers in regards to these programs/issues. RCPA shall not provide its members with specific legal or technical guidance such as providing information or suggestions regarding filling out funding applications and/or carrying out day-to-day business operations. Questions and/or guidance of this nature should be directed to the member’s internal or contracted professionals such as Certified Public Accountants (CPAs), Solicitors, or other applicable legal counsel or professional.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 3, 2020
View Online

Harrisburg, PA – As a companion to the Trauma-Informed PA plan released last week by Governor Tom Wolf’s Office to guide the commonwealth and service providers statewide on what it means to be trauma-informed and healing-centered in PA, the Office of Advocacy and Reform (OAR) and the PA Attorney General’s Office have worked with over a dozen community-based ACEs and trauma initiatives to launch the “PA Trauma-Informed Network” on the ACEs Connection Platform.

“There was a clear emphasis on building grass roots support and empowering people at the local level among the PA Trauma-Informed Think Tank members that mirrored my experiences with successful anti-poverty work over the years,” said Dan Jurman, the Executive Director of OAR.  “When we saw what the Attorney General’s office had been working on, it was a no brainer to throw our support behind the great work.”

The Network is one of the recommendations in the Trauma-Informed PA plan to connect ACEs and trauma-informed coalitions and movements in counties and communities across Pennsylvania, as well as organizations and individuals interested in building them.

The Network will help connect all of Pennsylvania’s existing and future trauma-informed coalitions by sharing best-practices and lessons learned, and the resources to help people heal from and prevent trauma. The work on this initiative began in 2017 with the Attorney General’s Office under the leadership of Attorney General Josh Shapiro with the assistance of Robert Reed, Executive Deputy Attorney General in charge of Special Initiatives, and was reinforced by the Trauma-Informed PA Think Tank and OAR this summer.

“This network will serve as an invaluable tool to bolster existing trauma-informed coalitions and create new ones with a more well-rounded representation of all parties crucial to success including education, health, human services, law enforcement and criminal justice, among others,” said Reed.

Current counties/localities whose ACEs and trauma initiatives have linked to the PA Trauma-Informed Network page include:

  • Chester
  • Delaware
  • Erie
  • Crawford
  • Cumberland, Franklin, and Perry (South Central PA)
  • Lancaster
  • Lehigh, Northampton and Carbon (Lehigh Valley)
  • Montgomery County (Pottstown)
  • Philadelphia

Individuals or organizations interested in learning more or building their own initiative to connect to the network should go to https://www.acesconnection.com/g/pennsylvania-trauma-informed-network

MEDIA CONTACT: Lyndsay Kensinger, [email protected]

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The Trump administration has renewed the public health emergency for the coronavirus, ensuring that critical resources to fight the pandemic can continue while much of the country battles rising caseloads.

The news will come as a relief to health care groups who worried that President Donald Trump would let the emergency declaration lapse when it was set to expire July 25, despite previous assurances from top administration officials it would be renewed.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 22, 2020

Harrisburg, PA – Wolf Administration officials announced today that two new prescribing guidelines, Guidelines for the Safe Administration of Subanesthetic Ketamine and Treatment of Acute and Chronic Pain in Patients With Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) have been published to assist physicians working to treat patients.

“These two prescribing guidelines developed by the Safe and Effective Prescribing Task Force are the latest available to assist healthcare providers as they treat their patients,” Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said. “These guidelines bring the total number to 14 available to physicians as they work to treat people who are already dealing with the disease of addiction. It is important that physicians look at a wide range of therapies as they work to treat these subsets of the population.”

The ketamine guideline differs from previous prescribing guidelines by addressing administration of a non-opioid. The ketamine guideline provides best practices for the subanesthetic administration of Ketamine for a variety of conditions. This includes recommendations for the treatment team, treatment location, patient selection, and patient monitoring.

The SCD guideline provides best practices to treat acute painful crises that occur with SCD patients as well as best practices for chronic pain care. The SCD guideline addresses the specific needs of that patient population. This can help prevent the misapplication of recommendations to populations that are outside the scope of other prescribing guidelines, including patients experiencing acute sickle cell crises. It is especially important to have resources specifically for the treatment of SCD patients as this patient population often experiences racial disparities and stigma.

“Health care professionals play a vital role in combatting the opioid crisis,” said Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs Secretary Jen Smith. “The reality is that even individuals with opioid use disorder experience chronic pain and need treatment plans that meet their unique needs. We must give physicians the tools to adequately treat individuals living with substance use disorder to ensure they can lead happy, healthy lives.”

The Opioid Command Center, established in January 2018 when Governor Tom Wolf signed the first opioid disaster declaration, continues to meet each week to discuss the opioid crisis. The command center is staffed by personnel from 17 state agencies, spearheaded by the departments of Health and Drug and Alcohol Programs.

On July 6, the Opioid Command Center released its strategic plan, highlighting accomplishments to date and providing a roadmap for the continued work to help those with substance use disorder. The plan, available here, includes five goal areas: prevention, rescue, treatment, recovery and sustainability.

Work to address the opioid crisis focuses on three areas: prevention, rescue and treatment. Efforts over the past several years, working with state agencies, local, regional and federal officials, have resulted in significant action to address the opioid crisis:

  • The Prescription Drug Monitoring Program has reduced opioid prescriptions by 34 percent and has virtually eliminated doctor shopping.
  • The number of people receiving high dosages of opioids (defined as greater than 90 morphine milligram equivalents per day) has dropped 53 percent since the PDMP launched in August 2016
  • The Opioid Data Dashboard and Data Dashboard 2.0 has provided public-facing data regarding prevention, rescue and treatment.
  • 14 Pennsylvania Coordinated Medication Assisted Treatment (PacMAT) programs are serving as part of a hub-and-spoke model to provide evidence-based treatment to people where they live, with just under $26 million dedicated into the centers.
  • More than 45 Centers of Excellence (COEs), administered by the Department of Human Services (DHS), provide coordinated, evidence-based treatment to people with an opioid use disorder covered by Medicaid. The COEs have treated more than 32,500 people since first launching in 2016. A recent announcement regarding COEs was made by DHS.
  • The waiver of birth certificate fees for those with opioid use disorder has helped more than 4,600 people, enabling easier entry into recovery programs.
  • A standing order signed by Dr. Rachel Levine in 2018 allowed EMS to leave behind more than 2,400 doses of naloxone.
  • Education has been provided to more than 6,600 prescribers through either online or face-to-face education.
  • 882 drug take-back boxes help Pennsylvanians properly dispose of unwanted drugs, including 178,540 pounds of unwanted drugs in 2019.
  • The Get Help Now Hotline received close to 36,800 calls, with nearly half of all callers connected directly to a treatment provider.
  • The state prison system has expanded their Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) program which is viewed as a model program for other states.
  • A body scanner pilot project was successful in reducing overdoses and violent crime in a number of facilities. Body scanners are in place in more than 30 locations and are currently being expanded to additional facilities.
  • Several agencies have worked together to collaborate on the seizure and destruction of illicit opioids across Pennsylvania.
  • Education and training on opioids has been provided to schools. Future plans are in place to make opioid education a standard component of their school-based training.
  • The coordination with seven major commercial providers has expand access to naloxone and mental health care, while also working to make it more affordable.
  • Naloxone has been made available to first responders through the Commission on Crime and Delinquency, with more than 63,400 kits made available and close to 12,700 saves through that program. More than half of those saves, 6,633, occurred in 2019.
  • EMS have administered close to 39,500 doses of naloxone and more than 10,000 doses were made available to members of the public during the state’s naloxone distribution last year.

More information on the opioid crisis can be found on the Department of Health’s website at health.pa.gov or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Nate Wardle, 717-787-1783 or [email protected]
Rachel Kostelac, 717-547-3314

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