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Substance Use Disorder

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(From OMHSAS)

From: DHS STAKEHOLDERS
On Behalf Of: HS, Secretary’s Office
Sent: Monday, April 10, 2017 2:41 PM
To: DHS Stakeholders
Subject: OMHSAS Leadership

Today I am announcing that Dr. Dale Adair will serve as the Acting Deputy Secretary for the Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS). For those of you who have not yet met him, Dale currently serves with distinction as the Chief Medical Officer at OMHSAS and is an essential member of the OMHSAS executive team.

Dale’s nearly 30 years of experience in all levels of state government and his leadership experience will be invaluable as we move forward during this difficult time and begin the process of selecting our next Deputy Secretary. I have complete confidence that Dale will make the transition to a new Deputy Secretary as smooth as possible and that the critical work that OMHSAS does every day continues without interruption.

I would personally like to thank Dale for stepping up into this role, your leadership is needed now more than ever at DHS.

Please join me in welcoming Dale to this new role and working with him so that we can ensure that services continue for the vulnerable Pennsylvanians that OMHSAS serves.

Ted

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RCPA has joined the many community organizations across Pennsylvania that are now participants in the #FamilyFirstPA Coalition. #FamilyFirstPA is a campaign committed to enabling families to advocate for themselves in the ongoing effort to protect human services in the state budget process. The project works with provider, advocacy, faith-based, and community organizations to identify FAMILIES and provide social media platforms for them to share their stories of the challenges they face and the critical support their family has received from community services that rely on state and county funding. While these families may not know about funding streams, waivers, etc., they know what a difference critical human services are making in the lives of their families. In the current phase of the project, #FamilyFirstPA is seeking and interviewing families in four regions:

  • Lehigh Valley: Berks, Lehigh, Northampton Counties
  • Southeast: Bucks, Chester, Montgomery, Delaware Counties
  • South Central: Dauphin, Lancaster, York Counties
  • Southwest: Allegheny, Washington, Westmoreland Counties

More information about the project can be found online and providers and families are encouraged to “like,” participate in, and “follow” #FamilyFirstPA on Facebook and Twitter.

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With regret, RCPA has learned of the passing of OMHSAS Deputy Secretary Dennis Marion. Our sincere condolences go out to Mr. Marion’s family and colleagues. Here is the announcement from the State:

(From OMHSAS)

From: “HS, Secretary’s Office”
Date: March 30, 2017 at 11:35:55 AM EDT
To: “DHS-STAKEHOLDERS”
Subject: [DHS-STAKEHOLDERS] Dennis Marion

I am writing today with great sadness to let you know of the passing of our colleague and dear friend, Dennis Marion. Dennis served admirably as the Deputy Secretary for the Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services and all of us throughout the Department are feeling this tremendous loss.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the Marion family and especially his wife Camille during this difficult time. I feel honored to have been able to call Dennis a friend and will miss him terribly. He was a great colleague, husband, and father and will be missed by us all.

Thank you all for the messages of condolences that we have already received. The outpouring of sympathy is a testament to Dennis and the passion that he had for his work and his family.

Ted

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RCPA received an email seeking articles related to behavioral health workforce. If you are interested in submitting an article the process is outlined below. Any questions, contact Jack Phillips.

Call for Abstracts for AJPM Supplement Issue
Behavioral Health Workforce: Projections, Practice, and Preparation

The Behavioral Health Workforce Research Center at the University of Michigan is sponsoring a supplement issue in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine (AJPM) entitled Behavioral Health Workforce: Projections, Practice, and Preparation.

Overview of Supplement Topic:

Demand for mental health and substance use condition prevention and treatment continues to grow, placing additional stress on a workforce that already suffers from inadequate supply, maldistribution, and numerous policies restricting reimbursement and effective service delivery. This supplement issue will highlight research findings and best practices for the behavioral health workforce to inform policies aimed at relieving the workforce crisis faced by the field.

Guest editors for this supplement issue are:

  • Angela J. Beck, PhD, MPH, Director, Behavioral Health Workforce Research Center
  • Ronald W. Manderscheid, PhD, Executive Director, National Association of County Behavioral Health and Developmental Disability Directors
  • Peter I. Buerhaus, PhD, RN, FAAN, Director, Center for Interdisciplinary Health Workforce Studies, Montana State University

Editors are seeking articles related to three behavioral health workforce themes:

  • Workforce data collection/supply and demand projections;
  • Workforce factors impacting service delivery; and
  • Workforce development.

Process for Article Selection:

Interested authors should submit the following information to Angela Beck by Sunday, April 30, 2017:

  • A 200-word article abstract;
  • The behavioral health workforce supplement theme of most relevance to your article; and
  • The AJPM article type that best describes your article (brief report, research article, or special article). See AJPM Author Instructions for more information.

Issue Timeline:

  • May 12, 2017: Authors notified of invitation to submit full papers for publication consideration
  • July 28, 2017: Full papers due to guest editors
  • June 2018: Projected publication date of supplement issue
[Note: submission invitations do not imply acceptance for publication. All papers are subject to AJPM’s standard peer review process.]

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Please join the Office of Long-term Living (OLTL) and the Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS) for an informational webinar on Community HealthChoices (CHC) on Friday, March 31, 2017 at 1:00 pm. The webinar will feature a presentation from OLTL’s Chief of Staff, Kevin Hancock. Kevin will provide an update on CHC, describe progress to date, and discuss next steps. There will be an opportunity for questions and answers at the end of the presentation.

Background on CHC
The commonwealth is in the process of implementing CHC. CHC is a mandatory managed care program for eligible individuals, providing physical health services and long-term services and supports, such as attendant care services. CHC is being geographically phased in across the commonwealth beginning in January of 2018 in 14 counties in southwestern Pennsylvania, followed in July 2018 by five counties in the southeastern portion of the commonwealth. The CHC implementation will be completed in January 2019, when the remaining counties are implemented. The move to CHC will assist DHS in continuing to provide quality services.  CHC managed care organizations will be required to coordinate covered services, Medicare, and behavioral health services for enrolled participants.

To register for the webinar, please follow this link. Once you have registered, you will receive a confirmation email containing connection information. Please note, the connection information you receive will be unique to you and should not be shared with others.

Reminder: All CHC-related information can be found here. Comments can be submitted electronically. If you have any questions, please contact the Office of Long-Term Living Bureau of Policy and Regulatory Management at 717-783-8412.

A listserv has been established for ongoing updates on the CHC program, titled OLTL-COMMUNITY-HEALTHCHOICES. If you would like to update or register your email address, please follow this link.

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Governor Wolf has announced that several state agencies have been chosen to participate in the federal government’s Commercial Parity Policy Academy, designed to help states better protect consumers through enforcement of federal laws requiring parity between insurance coverage of mental health and substance use disorders and physical health coverage. “The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, which has been adopted into Pennsylvania state law, and the Affordable Care Act, both require that mental health and substance use disorder treatments be provided by insurers at parity with physical health coverage, and this requirement is vital for many thousands of Pennsylvanians who need this coverage,” Insurance Commissioner Teresa Miller said. The Parity Policy Academy, conducted by the federal Department of Health and Human Services, will provide state officials with assistance in better enforcing these laws to protect consumers. In addition to the Insurance Department, other state agencies taking part in the Parity Policy Academy include the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs, the Department of Health, and the Department of Human Services.

Commissioner Miller said her department will be using a $529,000 federal grant under the Health Insurance Enforcement and Consumer Protections Grant Program to enhance parity implementation and enforcement. The Wolf Administration, with the support of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, will continue to coordinate efforts to implement and enforce the laws requiring parity for mental health and substance use disorders. “Substance use disorder services are now being provided for 175,000 Pennsylvanians at parity with physical health services because of the coverage they receive under the Affordable Care Act, and I urge the Trump Administration and Congress to consider these people and how important this coverage is to them, as they debate any changes to this law.”

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On Monday, March 13, the House Health Committee will hold a meeting at 9:30 am in Room 205, Ryan Office Building to vote on HB478, which is sponsored by Rep. Tina Pickett (R – Bradford). The bill aims to assist outpatient psychiatric clinics to meet the growing demand and address the shortage of psychiatric time we are facing in Pennsylvania by changing the number of hours of psychiatric supervision required for each staff member per week. Additionally, the bill will allow licensed prescribing professionals to work within their scope of practice as is the case in the physical health care arena.  RCPA requests members to contact legislators that serve on the House Health Committee, and ask them to vote YES to move the bill out of committee.

The following legislators serve on the House Health Committee:

Republicans
Matt Baker, Chair
Kristen Hill
Aaron Bernstein
Alexander Charlton
Becky Corbin
Eli Evankovich
Frank Farry
Aaron Kaufer
Dawn Keefer
Harry Lewis
Paul Schemul
Todd Stephens
Jesse Topper
Judy Ward
Martina White
David Zimmerman

Democrats
Flo Fabrizio, Chair
Mary Jo Daley
Vanessa Brown
Mike Schlossberg
Kevin Boyle
Jason Dawkins
Pam DeLissio
Ed Gainey
Stephen Kinsey
Gerald Mullery

For your convenience, you can find the above legislators’ contact information here. Questions, contact Jack Phillips, RCPA Director of Government Affairs.

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Again this year the Pennsylvania Youth Suicide Prevention Initiative (PAYSPI) and its partners will be hosting Suicide Prevention Nights at the Ballparks this year. These are the events where the students selected as the winners of the state’s youth suicide poster and public service announcement contest are publicly recognized for their work. The Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Harrisburg Senators have offered discount pricing, with a portion of the ticket sales through the PAYSPI links going toward suicide prevention in Pennsylvania. The Suicide Prevention Night In Philadelphia will be on April 22 (Phillies vs Atlanta Braves). For tickets at a special discount rate, with a contribution going to suicide prevention, visit this web page.

Look for information on similar events in both Pittsburgh and Harrisburg as information becomes available. In years past, provider organizations, managed care organizations, advocacy groups, and community businesses have made Suicide Prevention Nights at the Ballpark group outings for staff, consumers, and families.

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Department of Human Services (DHS) Secretary Ted Dallas spoke at the RCPA Board of Directors meeting on February 22 regarding Governor Wolf’s proposal to consolidate four state health and human service agencies. If approved by the legislature, the plan would be launched on July 1, 2017.

Although the Secretary referenced approximately $90 million in savings from this process, he also affirmed that this “cannot be just about saving money.” Dallas remarked that time spent dealing with the bureaucracies as currently constructed takes time away from providing services, and so the goal is to eliminate redundancies.

RCPA members brought up key topics such as population health, licensing, and services for persons with co-existing conditions. When asked how this consolidation will affect addressing the opioid crisis, Secretary Dallas responded that the focus would be shifted to treating the whole person, rather than each individual condition.

The meeting concluded with the Secretary requesting ideas for continued efficiencies and how to ultimately better serve members. On the day of the Governor’s announcement, RCPA issued a statement expressing support for the proposal and committing to working with the administration to implement the plan in a smart and cost-effective manner.

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