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Telehealth

This week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the Calendar Year 2023 Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) final rule. The final rule includes several National Council and RCPA recommended priorities. These are wins for mental health and substance use care organizations that will help expand access to care by strengthening the workforce.

RCPA recommends members review this 2023 Physicians Fee Schedule Final Rule Summary for impacts on your agencies practice and/or policies.

Key Highlights:

  • Telehealth Flexibility Extensions: CMS is extending telehealth flexibilities implemented under the Public Health Emergency (PHE) for a 151-day period after the expiration of the PHE.
  • CMS is allowing behavioral health clinicians to offer services incident to a Medicare practitioner under general (rather than direct) supervision.
  • Licensed professional counselors and marriage and family therapists are now able to bill incident to Medicare practitioner for their services.
  • Medicare will allow opioid treatment programs to use telehealth to initiate treatment with buprenorphine for patients with opioid use disorder, continuing the flexibilities under the Ryan Haight Act of 2008.
  • CMS is also clarifying that opioid treatment programs can bill for opioid use disorder treatment services provided through mobile units, such as vans, in accordance with Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) guidance.

The Final Rule, in alignment with the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) of 2022, implements an extension of a number of flexibilities for a 151-day period after the expiration of the Public Health Emergency (PHE), which is set to expire on January 11, 2023.

In the event of further extensions of the federal PHE, we will communicate this info to members. Under the current timeframe for PHE continuation, states must be notified by November 11, 2022.

We thank our members and Steering Committees for their guidance, recommendations, and support through the review process. If you have any questions, please contact your respective RCPA Policy Director.

Expanding telehealth services during the COVID-19 pandemic was crucial to provide quality mental health and substance use treatment services to clients.

Did your organization provide telehealth services? What services will you continue post-pandemic?

We want to hear about your experiences! The survey will take less than 10 minutes to complete and will assist RCPA in our State and Federal Telehealth advocacy efforts.

Take the Survey Today!

Please complete the brief survey by 11:59 pm ET on Wednesday, Oct. 26.

The National Council will use these survey findings as part of a larger effort to collect and share data with policymakers, payers, and the field at large to improve access to mental health and substance use treatment services nationwide.

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

The Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS) is pleased to share the Pennsylvania Behavioral Health Telehealth Phase II Roadmap, which was developed in collaboration with the OMHSAS Telehealth Steering Committee and Mercer Government Services Consulting. This report focuses on identifying and prioritizing recommendations for short-term and long-term implementation of telehealth services in the Commonwealth. The roadmap includes example documents developed by the Steering Committee that can be used and personalized by the provider when implementing telehealth services. The work of the Steering Committee and other stakeholders has been and will continue to be vital in ensuring that the behavioral health needs of Pennsylvanians continue to be met.

RCPA recommends that your agency reviews the document with your teams as well as compares it to your current policies and practices. These recommendations are not mandates but offer a series of best practices as developed by the Behavioral Health Steering Committee. Additionally, RCPA will conduct an internal review and will request OMHSAS attend the next Telehealth Committee Meeting.

If you have questions regarding this report, please email OMHSAS and/or RCPA Policy Director Jim Sharp.

Photo by visuals on Unsplash

The Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) and the Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS) are hosting a Town Hall focused on Behavioral Health Telehealth Services for individuals with Intellectual Disabilities or Autism (ID/A).

The Town Hall will provide an overview of the Telehealth for ID/A project and opportunities for engagement, including details on future stakeholder focus groups. The meeting will also host breakout rooms to gather stakeholder feedback on the benefits and barriers of telehealth for individuals with ID/A.

This is an opportunity for you to assist the Commonwealth by providing feedback on how telehealth works for you or someone you care about and giving suggestions for broadening and improving the service for the ID/A population.

We look forward to seeing you at the Town Hall. However, if you cannot make it, maybe you know someone else who can. Please feel free to forward this invitation to other interested parties. Please register for the meeting using the link below.

Register for the November 7, 2022 Town Hall

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