Mental Health News Bulletin!
Welcome to our Mental Health News Bulletin!
We will be regularly publishing articles and new related to mental health, billing, health insurance, and more directly on our blog! As we monitor trends in the industry we want you to be kept up to speed on the latest news, so we will be publishing regular news updates.
Stay tuned for more, but for now here is our news bulletin:
The Northern Light published an article about the new changes that are coming to Washington State's medicaid program. "On July 1, Washington state changed the way it pays for the delivery of physical and mental health services for Medicaid recipients. The goal is to bring together the payment and delivery of physical and behavioral health services, along with mental health and substance-use disorder treatment."
If you would like to read more about the changes, click on the heading and you can read from The Northern Light Directly.
Mountain View Voice published an article that outlined what California is doing to address the shortage of access to mental healthcare in public schools. "The Mental Health Student Services Act, established through budget legislation this year, launches a grant program where county behavioral health departments -- largely responsible for publicly funded mental health care -- can partner with local schools to create campus-based mental health services. The goal is to reach students before mental illness becomes severe and disabling, preventing suicide, dropouts, homelessness and suffering."
Read more here.
KGW8 in Oregon published an article claiming that there are 10 psychiatrists per every 100,000 people in the United States. "This shortage, coupled with shrinking inpatient services and beds, is sending more people to emergency rooms because they have no other choice. That becomes incredibly expensive for health care systems and for American taxpayers."
If you would like to read more about KGW8's article click on this link.
Flotation therapy is emerging as a new and exciting way to treat PTSD. Since 2015, True REST Float Spa has given away almost 3,000 free float sessions to active-duty military and veterans.
"To show further support for the sacrifices made by men and women who serve in the US military, the spa has also designated every 11th day of the month—every month—as US Military Appreciation Day, and they offer free, 60-minute floats to any active-duty military member or veteran."
To read more about this trailblazing new treatment click here.
As our healthcare system moves past the co-payment era into the coinsurance and percentage cost-share era, it is important for providers and organizations to be prepared to collect more cash from patients.
According to this article, IOP costs rose 14% in the last year and outpatient costs rose 12% in the last year. One of the results from the rising costs is surprising - crowdfunding. More and more people are turning to the general public to help cover the costs of healthcare expenses.
Learn more by clicking this link!
According to Home Health Care News, the use of remote patient monitoring is becoming more and more common and has added a substantial amount of value to many organizations.
“There is some pretty good reimbursement,” Whitman said. “CMS just passed 60 new codes in January for various telemedicine approaches. We are still working through some of the idiosyncrasies. I’ve spent a lot of time talking to Medicare in terms of how we are going to go for this and their bottom line response was, ‘Just start billing and we’ll see how it goes.’”
To read more about the article, click here.
According to The Eagle, millions of children in the US live with chronic anxiety, depression, ADHD, and a variety of other conditions. "Mental health can impact how children and teenagers learn and interact with the world," said Dr. Andrew Harper, child and adolescent psychiatrist with the Texas A&M Outpatient Psychiatry Clinic and clinical professor at the Texas A&M College of Medicine.
According to the article, it is imperative that parents and teachers know the warning signs that a child is struggling with mental illnesses. The sooner that a mental illness is diagnosed and treated, the faster that student can get back on track.
To read more about the article, click here.
