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Substance Use Disorder

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RCPA Partner Eleos knows how to throw a party, and their virtual event next month is no exception. Join them for the debut of Eleos Compliance at their Winter 2025 Launch Event. 

This 1-hour virtual event will kick off with a product launch video, then AI experts and real-life Eleos customers will present New Year, New AI Advancements with Eleos Documentation and Compliance.

Eleos Compliance is a new AI-powered solution that enables behavioral health CDI and CQI teams to continually scan 100% of notes for six of the most common compliance red flags. By quickly identifying high risk areas, there’s more time to spend on staff education and training to prevent further issues. 

Register now to join them on February 19 at 12:00 pm Eastern, when Alon Joffe, Eleos Co-founder and CEO, will be joined by Eleos’ customers Rony Gadiwalla, CIO at GRAND Mental Health, and Tom Morgan, CIO at Merakey, to:

  • Define and explain the riskiest note compliance issues in behavioral health.
  • Detail how the NEW Eleos Compliance product — in conjunction with the new Eleos Documentation Dashboard — helps organizations proactively monitor, manage, and prevent documentation quality issues.
  • Showcase the measurable impact of AI-driven compliance and documentation technology at GRAND Mental Health.

It’s a great opportunity to get familiar with all the operational benefits specialized AI has to offer — and to discover why Eleos is the behavioral health technology providers (and leaders) actually love. 

Stay tuned for their next launch event in Q2!

Register for this exciting event now. If you can’t make it to the live event, you’ll receive an on-demand recording afterwards.

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Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on Unsplash

Registration for the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency’s (PCCD) 2025 Criminal Justice Advisory Board (CJAB) Conference is now open. The conference, “From Crisis to Collaboration: Building Resilient Justice Systems,” will be held on April 22–23, 2025, at the Penn Stater Hotel and Conference Center in State College. This year’s event will bring together criminal justice, behavioral health, and treatment partners, including national and local experts who will discuss new and emerging issues affecting the justice and behavioral health systems, providing innovative strategies and collaborative solutions to meet the challenges ahead.

To register for the conference and to view the agendas and session descriptions, visit the 2025 CJAB Conference page on PCCD’s website.

The deadline to register for the conference is Friday, March 28. The deadline for the discounted room rate of $139 is Friday, March 21. There is no fee to attend the conference.

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Secretary Val Arkoosh and leadership from the Department of Human Services (DHS) hosted a webinar to discuss the proposed 2025/26 budget for the Department on Friday, February 7, 2025.

The recording is available here, and the PowerPoint has been made available.

RCPA will continue to update members on the budget as information becomes available. If you have further questions, please contact your RCPA Policy Director.

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The Department of Human Services (DHS) Secretary Val Arkoosh met with systems stakeholders to provide an overview of the Governor’s proposed 2025/26 DHS budget. The Secretary began by reviewing the accomplishments of DHS under the administration and highlighted areas around Medicaid, systems enhancements, and the expansion in the delivery of services to Pennsylvanians.

The projected spending across DHS showed an investment of $21.17B, with the following breakdowns:

  • $7.13B for Long-Term Living;
  • $6.4B for Medicaid/healthcare delivery;
  • $3.22B for ID/A;
  • $1.72B for Human Services and County Child Welfare; and
  • $1.04B for Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders.

This budget number represents a $1.95B increase over last year’s executive budget. The most significant increases included:

  • $927M for Long-Term Living;
  • $7.23M for Medicaid/healthcare delivery;
  • $1.84M for ID/A;
  • $74M for Child Development; and
  • $32M for Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders.

RCPA submitted questions during the webinar in an effort to gain greater clarity on the proposed $2.4B increase in the Health Choices capitation. Several questions remain unanswered, including:

  • Are these dollars allocated towards physical health, behavioral health, or both?
  • What is the spending strategy for the 2024/25 supplemental appropriations? Is that part of the $2.4B?

There was clarification on the proposed $170M increase in the ID/A budget, but Secretary Arkoosh stipulated that this was not new investments but rather funds to sustain last year’s increase.

The remainder of the webinar was spent outlining current DHS initiatives, including the Keystones of Health 1115 Waiver, which was approved in December 2024. This year’s priority will focus on reentry services as well as planning for future implementation. The Secretary concluded her comments supporting the minimum wage increase, reinforcing the workforce infrastructure, and tackling Commonwealth-wide challenges.

The DHS Bluebook is scheduled for release in the coming weeks and will provide line item details of the budget. RCPA will continue to work with DHS and PA legislators on the budget specifics and our ongoing advocacy efforts. You can view the DHS budget webinar here.

RCPA will continue to update members on the budget as information becomes available. If you have further questions, please contact your RCPA Policy Director.

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Join RCPA as we host the 2025 Annual Conference Striving to Thrive from September 9 – 12 at the Hershey Lodge. The event is a highlight for the Pennsylvania behavioral health, brain injury, children’s, intellectual and developmental disabilities, medical rehabilitation, and physical disabilities and aging provider communities. RCPA staff and the Conference Committee are excited to release this year’s Sponsors, Exhibitors, and Advertiser Brochure, which features new opportunities to get in on the action and network with providers. Booth self-selection will also be available for exhibitors and exhibiting sponsors. In order to be considered for self-selection, a completed contract with payment must be submitted.

Network and Compete in Connections Hall
Connections Hall activities take place during the two busiest days of the conference, and many networking opportunities are available throughout the event. You’ll also be able to compete and have a chance to win “Best of Show!”

Exciting New Sponsorship Opportunities
RCPA is privileged to have the backing of the finest organizations in the field for our conference. Through the use of sponsorship circles, RCPA is able to honor all supporting organizations.

Sign Up Now!
Sponsors, exhibitors, and advertisers who wish to be listed on the website, the mobile app, and in the conference program must submit all materials by August 20.

The association looks forward to welcoming you at the conference! Space and opportunities are reserved on a first-come, first-served basis, and no reservation is considered complete without payment. If questions remain, please contact Carol Ferenz, Conference Coordinator.

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Message from ANCOR:

A second federal judge has blocked the freeze on federal spending noticed earlier in the week through a memo from OMB.

The order directs the Trump Administration not to “pause, freeze, impede, block, cancel, or terminate defendants’ compliance with awards and obligations to provide federal financial assistance to the states, and defendants shall not impede the states’ access to such awards and obligations” until further arguments can be heard.

The order does not prevent the review of federal programs, only the freeze on federal spending during the review. The OMB memo was rescinded prior to the issuance of the order, but the judge expressed earlier in the week that he was not persuaded that withdrawing the memo removed the underlying harm.

A hearing is expected Monday on the previous restraining order issued earlier in the week. We’ll keep you posted as we learn more.

Lydia Dawson, JD
ANCOR | Vice President of Government Relations
571-932-5375

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Earlier this month the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for Special Registrations for Telemedicine and Limited State Telemedicine Registrations. DEA is seeking public comment by March 18, 2025.

RCPA is considering whether it will submit comments. If you have comments about the proposed rule that you would like to make part of any RCPA response or if you would like to discuss the proposed rule, please contact RCPA SUD Treatment Services Policy Director Jason Snyder.

The NPRM introduces three types of Special Registrations for Telemedicine:

  1. A Telemedicine Prescribing Registration, authorizing qualified clinician practitioners to prescribe Schedule III-V controlled substances via telemedicine;
  2. An Advanced Telemedicine Prescribing Registration, authorizing qualified, specialized clinician practitioners (i.e., psychiatrists, hospice care physicians, physicians rendering treatment at long-term care facilities, and pediatricians for the prescribing of medications identified as the most addictive and prone to diversion to the illegal drug market) to prescribe Schedule II-V controlled substances via telemedicine; and
  3. A Telemedicine Platform Registration, authorizing covered online telemedicine platforms, in their capacity as platform practitioners, to dispense Schedule II-V controlled substances. To satisfy the statutory requirements, DEA would also require the special registrant to maintain a State Telemedicine Registration for every state in which a patient is treated by the special registrant, unless otherwise exempted. The State Telemedicine Registration would be issued by DEA, not the states, and operate as an ancillary credential, contingent on the Special Registration held by the special registrant.

Public comments are also requested on additional patient protections for the prescribing of Schedule II medications by telemedicine, including:

  • Whether the special registrant should be physically located in the same state as the patient being prescribed Schedule II medications;
  • Whether to limit Schedule II medications by telemedicine to medical practitioners whose practice is limited to less than 50 percent of prescriptions by telemedicine; and
  • The appropriate duration needed for the rules’ provisions to be enacted.

The special registration rule will also require the establishment of a national prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP) to help the health industry protect against abuse and the diversion of controlled substances into the illegal drug market. A national PDMP will provide pharmacists and medical practitioners with visibility of a patient’s prescribed medication history.

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