Resources For Key Issues in Mental Health

Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008

• Interim Final Rule

The Laws

• MHPAEA of 2008
• Mental Health Parity Law of 1996

Webinars and Calls on Implementation

• AHA Call:  MHPAEA Interim Final Rule
• Mental Health America
• ACMHA Series on Health Reform

AHA Resources

• AHA Advisory on MHPAEA Interim Final Rule, April 21, 2010  
• AHA Comment Letter on MHPAEA Interim Final Rule, April 28, 2010
• AHA Talking Points: Parity Act of 2007

Other Resources

• GAO Issues Congressionally Mandated Report on Parity Implementation
• Department of Labor: Employee Benefits Security Administration guidance on outpatient benefits  
• Parity Implementation Coalition: Mental Health Parity Watch Website
• Medicaid Policy Options for Adults Under Health Reform
• SAMHSA Parity Website
  

Health Reform Implementation:  Implications for Behavioral Health Providers

• Essential Health Benefits, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
  
• The Medical Home Model of Care
  This publication highlights an innovative model of health care used by many state Medicaid programs to reduce costs and improve the quality of care. As of January 2012, 41 states had policies promoting the medical home model for some beneficiaries of Medicaid or CHIP.  For more information, click here.
  
• SAMHSA:  Overview of the Affordable Care Act:  Implications for Behavioral Health
• IMD Demo for 8 states:  2011
• Mandatory Coverage in Health Plans offered by Exchanges
• Depression Centers of Excellence ‘16
• Pay for Performance:  2016
• The AHA's Health Care Reform: Moving Forward  
• More information on the Affordable Care Act is available at HealthCare.gov

Access to Services

• Inpatient Services
• ED Crowding
• Bed Closures all settings 
• State Budgets Cut Community Services 
• Disaster Readiness
• Disaster Responsiveness

Reimbursement

• Medicare
• Medicaid (CMS website)
• The Role of Medicaid for People with Behavioral Health Conditions, Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, November 2012
• Private Insurance
• Grants
• Mental Health Financing in the United States
• Mental Health as a Percentage of Total Health Spending
  

Regulations

• The Joint Commission Resources
• EMTALA

CPT Code Changes 2013

CPT Coding Changes for Psychiatrists, American Psychiatric Association, May 2012

Improving the Quality of Care

• There's an App for That 
  The U.S. government's recent digital initiative has prompted Veterans Affairs and other Federal agencies to create free apps for clinicians and patients. The VA's National Center for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) created an app called PTSD Coach, "designed for veterans and military service members who have -- or might have -- post-traumatic stress disorder. Check out this & other health care apps.
• New Strategies for Psych Care: Creative solutions include case management, fast-tracking ED patients and integrated treatment, by Charlotte Huff, Trustee Magazine, June 2011
• Reducing Readmissions
  • International Journal of Medical Informatics, which showed that hospital readmission rates are lower among psychiatric patients who have their mental health histories included in their electronic health records
  • AHA Conference Calls
  • HPOE:  Health Care Leader Action Guide
• Military & Veterans
• Evidence Based Practices
• Treatment Programs:  
  • Addiction; Child & Adolescent; Geriatric; Co-Occurring 
  • Children's Psychiatric Hospitalizations Doubled From 1996 to 2007
• Other Quality Resources for Behavioral Health

Telemedicine

8 Best Practices in Telemedicine, Becker's Hospital Review, December 2012

• Treatment Works
• Economic Benefits

Conference Calls

• Conference Calls for the AHA Section for Psychiatric and Substance Abuse Services 

Behavioral Health Updates

• Behavioral Health Updates: A Monthly Report for Members of the American Hospital Association and the National Association of Psychiatric Health Systems