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Children's Services

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The Importance of Place in Trauma-Informed Care: A Wellness Approach
May 15, 2024
10:00 am – 1:00 pm
Registration now open 

The Department of Human Services (DHS) Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) and the Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS) have announced the Dual Diagnosis Professional Conference Series, which offers presentations focused on supporting individuals with intellectual disabilities and autism (ID/A) and mental health needs. The next presentation will focus on the connection between trauma-informed care and positive support, framed in a wellness perspective. Critical to this effort was the creation of a safe place, the wellness center, specifically selected and modified to reduce the possible re-traumatization of individuals with ID/A or a dual diagnosis.

See the announcement for a full session description, presenter biographies, and information on how to register.

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Hole torn in a dollar bill with medicaid text

On April 25, 2024, at 12:00 pm, a virtual statewide briefing will be conducted on Medicaid unwinding and expanded enrollment options. This event will feature Health and Human Services (HHS) Regional Director Melissa Herd, Pennsylvania Department of Human Services Secretary Val Arkoosh, and Pennie Executive Director Devon Trolley.

The agenda will include a briefing on what’s happening at the federal level when it comes to Medicaid, an update on the Medicaid “unwinding” process currently wrapping up in Pennsylvania, and the expanded eligibility requirements for enrolling in Pennie coverage even when it’s not open enrollment.

To register, please visit here.

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Photo by Michael Schofield on Unsplash

The While House issued a press release announcing that the Access Final Rule will be released later today. These regulations include:

  • The Nursing Home Minimum Staffing Rule, which will require all nursing homes that receive federal funding through Medicare and Medicaid to have 3.48 hours per resident per day of total staffing, including a defined number from both registered nurses (0.55 hours per resident per day) and nurse aides (2.45 per resident per day);
  • Introducing the requirements of the rule in phases to make sure nursing homes have the time they need to hire staff, with longer timeframes for rural communities;
  • Ensuring adequate compensation for home care workers for HCBS operations of in-home care (both Personal Assistance Services and Community Habilitation) by “requiring that at least 80 percent of Medicaid payments for home care services go to workers’ wages. This policy would also allow states to take into account the unique experiences that small home care providers and providers in rural areas face while ensuring their employees receive their fair share of Medicaid payments and continued training as well as the delivery of quality care;”
  • The state requirement to be more transparent in how much they pay for home care services and how they set those rates, increasing the accountability for home care providers; and
  • The creation of a state home care rate-setting advisory group made up of beneficiaries, home care workers, and other key stakeholders to advise and consult on provider payment rates and direct compensation for direct care workers.

We will continue to monitor the details of these regulations and Pennsylvania’s plans to comply. If you have any questions, please contact Fady Sahhar.

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Image by photosforyou from Pixabay

Part 1: Navigating Evidence: Finding and Synthesizing Literature for Evidence-Based Practices
Tuesday, April 23, 2024
2:00 pm – 3:00 pm EDT; 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm CDT;
12:00 pm – 1:00 MDT; 11:00 am – 12:00 pm PDT
Register Here

Part 2: Making Evidence-Based Practices Work: Strategies and Outcomes
Tuesday, April 30, 2024
2:00 pm – 3:00 pm EDT; 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm CDT;
12:00 pm – 1:00 MDT; 11:00 am – 12:00 pm PDT
Register Here

Michael Peterson, MA, CCC-SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist and Clinical Transformation Specialist

Speaker Bio:
Michael works as a Clinical Transformation Specialist, where he focuses his efforts as part of a Clinical Transformation team to promote a culture of evidence-based practice at Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare in St. Paul, Minnesota. Michael is also a speech-language pathologist with 12 years of clinical experience working with children and adults with childhood-onset conditions. He applies his clinical experience and advanced training in knowledge translation and implementation science to partner with and guide clinical staff to bridge the gap between evidence and clinical practice.

Objectives: At the end of these sessions, the learner will:

Part 1: Navigating Evidence: Finding and Synthesizing Literature for Evidence-Based Practices

  • Describe how to search for literature using PICOT questions
  • Identify resources to support appraisal of relevant papers
  • State the purpose of synthesis tables in supporting evidence-based practice decisions
  • Describe how to use synthesis tables to make evidence-based practice recommendations

Part 2: Making Evidence-Based Practices Work: Strategies and Outcomes

  • Describe how frameworks guide implementation of EBP
  • State how barriers and facilitators influence implementation of EBP
  • Describe implementation strategies
  • List different kinds of outcomes to monitor implementation of EBP

Audience: This webinar is intended for all interested members of the rehabilitation team.

Level: Intermediate

Certificate of Attendance: Certificates of attendance are available for all attendees. No CEs are provided for this course.

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The Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS) has issued clarification on policy regarding encounter signatures for crisis services. The updated policy outlines that OMHSAS considers mobile mental health crisis services to be emergency services. While every effort should be made to obtain a signature from the beneficiary or a parent, legal guardian, relative, or friend, when such a signature cannot be obtained due to the nature of the situation, crisis intervention service providers are permitted to insert “Signature Exception” on the signature line of the encounter form.

RCPA has inquired if the encounter verification under these circumstances can be considered for similar applications to other programs under other OMHSAS licensed services. If you have any questions, please contact RCPA COO and Policy Director Jim Sharp.

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Lack of BH Providers in Medicare and Medicaid Impedes Enrollees’ Access to Care

The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has released a report citing there are not enough behavioral health providers participating in Medicare and Medicaid networks.

In an analysis published April 2, the government watchdog studied one urban and one rural county in 10 states across the country. The analysis found relatively few behavioral health providers are participating in Medicaid, Medicare, and Medicare Advantage programs, leading to difficulties in access for enrollees.

Notable Findings:

  1. On average, there were fewer than five active behavioral health providers accepting Medicare and Medicaid patients per 1,000 enrollees. Traditional Medicare had the lowest rates of providers, at 2.9 per 1,000 on average, and Medicare Advantage had the highest rate at 4.7 per 1,000 enrollees.
  2. Rural counties had fewer providers accepting Medicare and Medicaid than urban counties. In rural counties, there were 1.5 providers accepting traditional Medicare per 1,000 patients, compared to 4.4 in urban counties.
  3. Across Medicaid, traditional Medicare, and Medicare Advantage, there were fewer than two providers per 1,000 enrollees that could prescribe medication for mental health issues, such as psychiatrists and psychiatric nurse practitioners.
  4. Active providers accepting public insurance make up around one-third of the behavioral health workforce, according to the report.
  5. Fewer than 10% of public insurance beneficiaries received mental health treatment in 2023.
  6. CMS could also tighten network adequacy standards in Medicare Advantage and Medicaid to increase the size of insurers’ networks, the OIG said in its report.
  7. The OIG recommended CMS up its oversight of Medicaid and Medicare enrollees’ use of behavioral health services, and recommended CMS examine allowing more types of behavioral health providers to participate in Medicare and Medicaid.
  8. CMS said it concurred with the OIG’s recommendations and said it has already taken several steps to improve access to behavioral health providers for Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries.

If you have questions please contact RCPA COO and Director of Mental Health Jim Sharp.

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