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Substance Use Disorder

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Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

RCPA hopes that you found the National Council on Mental Wellbeing’s Hill Day at Home 2022 a valuable experience. This year’s focus supported the initiatives that are affecting our organizations and delivery of services to vulnerable consumers across Pennsylvania and our nation.

Be sure to check out the overview from Hill Day at Home 2022 that outlines the issues, impacts, strategies, and “The Ask” from our legislators and stakeholders. These include:

  • Fulfilling the Promise of 988;
  • Support for the Expansion of Certified Community Behavioral Health Centers (CCBHCs);
  • Curbing the Nation’s Substance Use Crisis; and
  • Addressing the Mental Health & Substance Abuse Treatment Workforce in America.

RCPA will continue to collaborate with the National Council and our members to advocate for these and other critical initiatives.

If you have any questions, please contact your RCPA Policy Director.

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The next OMHSAS Stakeholder Webinar will take place this Friday, June 24, 2022, from 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm. You can register for the webinar here. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

Call-in Number: (631) 992-3221
Access Code: 933633245#

In the meantime, if you have suggestions for agenda topics for June’s webinar, please submit them via email by COB this Thursday, June 23, 2022. OMHSAS will monitor the account and will reply to the sender if more information is needed.

If you have any questions, please contact your RCPA Policy Director.

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RCPA is looking to gather information regarding your organization’s experience with electronic data systems and is requesting your assistance. This short survey asks questions regarding systems used for Time, Attendance, and Payroll; Electronic Health Records; Service Data Collection; Medication Management; and Billing services.

If you haven’t completed this survey yet and are willing to do so, please complete it by close of business Friday, June 24, 2022. We will be closing the survey at that time.

Thank you to those who have participated already.

Our goal is that, with your responses, we will be able to provide your colleagues with this helpful information! Please note that RCPA will only share de-identified, aggregate data with members. We will not release any individual data unless given explicit permission to do so.

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Only a few days remain before the end of the fiscal year, and lawmakers are close to finalizing the state’s 2022/23 General Fund budget. Because of your direct outreach over the last few months, our workforce issues remain among their top priorities.

According to reporting by The Associated Press: “… difficulty in finding workers to care for children, the elderly and disabled has budget-makers eyeing more subsidies for those professions.”

You have been tireless advocates for this issue, making lawmakers understand how this workforce crisis is affecting our most vulnerable individuals and families, as well as the providers and professionals who serve them. Let us build on this momentum.

With budget negotiations about to end, if you haven’t done so already, please contact your state senator and representative TODAY and tell them to increase funding to support human services professionals. And please ask your networks to do the same.

Time is of the essence right now. What happens over the next few days will determine the level of care individuals and families in need receive over the next year, and whether providers and professionals can continue to support them.

USE THIS LINK to learn how you can help. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to stay informed of our progress. Most importantly, TAKE ACTION TODAY. Tell lawmakers to increase funding to address the workforce crisis facing Pennsylvania’s health and human services. Thank you for your continued efforts and support.

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Today, the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs (DDAP) was joined by national nonprofit Shatterproof and substance use disorder treatment provider Gaudenzia to announce the expansion of the free and confidential Addiction Treatment Locator, Assessment, and Standards Platform (ATLAS) to Pennsylvania.

ATLAS evaluates addiction treatment facilities’ use of evidence-based best practices based on the Shatterproof National Principles of Care, includes an assessment to understand the appropriate level of care, and offers an easy-to-use dashboard to allow those in need and their loved ones to search for and compare facilities using criteria such as location, services offered, and insurance accepted so they can find the best treatment for their unique needs. ATLAS is fully available in English and Spanish.

“We are grateful for ATLAS and the team at Shatterproof for making the submission process so easy,” said Dr. Dale Klatzker, President and CEO at Gaudenzia, Inc. “It is vital that we reduce barriers to treatment, and this tool provides an easy way for those in need to seek and quickly find a treatment option that will work best for them.”

Forty Gaudenzia treatment locations and a total of 515 substance use disorder treatment facilities across the state have submitted their information to be included in ATLAS. An additional open enrollment period for facilities who missed the first deadline will be available in fall 2022.

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The Department of Human Services (DHS) is pleased to announce new provider enrollment portal enhancements designed to improve a provider’s enrollment experience. Providers will enter the enrollment portal from PROMISe™ using their existing registered login criteria. Upon successful login, providers will have access to these new enhancements:

  1. Applications for adding additional service locations, revalidations, and reactivations will prepopulate parts of your application;
  2. After logging into the portal, existing providers will be able to submit change requests to update their provider file without the need to complete a full application; and
  3. Proof of provider enrollment status with PA Medicaid is available to view and print.

See the PROMISe Quick Tips update for more information. If you do not have an existing login, please select “Register Now” in the Provider Login box and complete the process options. Additional enhancements are planned and will be communicated through future banner alerts and quick tips.

If you have further questions, please contact RCPA Policy Director Jim Sharp.

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The Pennsylvania Department of State (DOS) has reversed course and extended its waiver allowing for an initial prescription of buprenorphine without an in-person physical exam. DOS had announced previously that the waiver would expire on June 30, 2022; however, DOS’s waiver will now continue until the last day of the federal public health emergency declaration, unless the exemptions are ended sooner by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) or the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

On Sept. 4, 2020, DOS issued a waiver suspending the State Board of Medicine’s regulation at 49 Pa. Code § 16.92(b)(1), which requires an initial physical examination of a patient prior to prescribing buprenorphine for the treatment of opioid use disorder. This waiver was sought specifically to complement the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs’ (DDAP) suspension of 28 Pa. Code § 715.9(a)(4) and “relates to Federal exemptions granted under the Federal public health emergency (PHE) declaration,” specifically the exemptions granted by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).

Therefore, in accordance with section 2102-F(a.3) of the Pennsylvania Administrative Code of 1929 (amended by Act 14 of 2022), the Department of State’s waiver will continue until the last day of the federal public health emergency declaration, unless the exemptions are ended sooner by SAMHSA or the DEA. This waiver will not expire on June 30, 2022. More information about the federal public health emergency can be found here.

It is important to note that, to be considered within the acceptable and prevailing standard of care, the physician/prescriber must be following the applicable SAMHSA/DEA guidelines.

Pennsylvania has not received notification that the PHE will be terminated on July 15. The commonwealth expects the PHE to be extended again. If this occurs, this waiver and others tied to or related to the PHE will be extended until mid-October 2022.

Additional information:

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