SAMHSA Email Update

The SAMHSA-HRSA Center for Integrated Health Solutions (CIHS) continually updates its website to present the best and newest resources and information relevant to integrated primary and behavioral healthcare. Check out some of these new resources or just peruse the site.

CLINICAL PRACTICE

• SAMHSA’S Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP) on Trauma-Informed Care in Behavioral Health Services assists providers in understanding the impact and consequences for those who experience trauma. The sheet includes patient assessments, treatment planning strategies that support recovery, and information on building a trauma-informed workforce. 
• The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) produced the National Healthcare Quality Report and the National Healthcare Disparities Report to measure trends in effectiveness of care, patient safety, timeliness of care, patient centeredness, and efficiency of care for both primary and behavioral health conditions.
• The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released an Informational Bulletin highlighting the use of FDA-approved medications in combination with evidence-based behavioral therapies to help persons with mental health and substance use disorders recover in a safe and cost-effective manner. The bulletin provides background information about medication assisted treatment (MAT), examples of state-based initiatives, and useful resources to help ensure proper delivery of these services.

FINANCING

• The SBIRT reimbursement map is an interactive tool to help determine whether billing codes are listed on a state’s fee schedule, and, if listed, whether or not they are open for reimbursement (i.e. a billing amount has been assigned to the codes).

HEALTH & WELLNESS

• Food Education for People with Serious Psychiatric Disabilities guides rehabilitation practitioners in helping people with psychiatric disabilities to learn good nutrition and healthy eating practices and to empower people with serious psychiatric disabilities to achieve nutritional health as a resource for recovery.
• The Ten Tips Nutrition Education Series provides individuals and professionals with high quality, easy-to-follow tips in a convenient, printable format. These tips are also available in Spanish.
• The Million Hearts® Healthy Eating & Lifestyle Resource Center features low-sodium, heart-healthy recipes and family-friendly meal plans.
• Healthy People 2020 from the Department of Health and Human Services is a national agenda aimed at improving the health of all Americans over a 10-year span. Integrated primary and behavioral healthcare entities can visit the site to identify new learning opportunities and post events on improving the health of your community.

INTEGRATED CARE MODELS

• The Evaluation of the SAMHSA Primary and Behavioral Health Care Integration (PBHCI) Grant Program: Final Report describes the RAND Corporation’s evaluation of SAMHSA’s PBHCI grant program. The evaluation brief highlights information about the grantees’ implementation of PBHCI, outcomes, and PBHCI program features.
• A new CIHS webpage for HRSA-supported safety net providers curates practice tools and resources to help these providers to successfully integrate behavioral health into their primary care practice. 
• The Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative (PCPCC) Primary Care Innovations and PCMH Mapshows the widespread uptake of patient-centered medical home (PCMH) initiatives across the country.

OPERATIONS & ADMINISTRATION

• CIHS worked with five states to get behavioral health organizations involved in health information exchanges (HIEs) and developed an array of resources states and organizations can use to work through the barriers of sharing behavioral health data. Resources include reports from each state’s initiative, sample training manuals, consent forms, continuity of care documents, provider guidelines, and client brochures.
• Disclosure of Substance Abuse Records with Patient Consent: A 50 State Comparison, created by the George Washington University and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, shows  detailed requirements for the disclosure of substance abuse patient records with patient consent in all 50 states as compared to 42 CFR Part 2.
• On the confidentiality page, the business associate identification flowchart and a sample agreement checklist helps define  business associates, those  entities who perform a function involving the use or disclosure of protected health information (PHI) on behalf of a covered entity (such as claims processing, data analysis, case management, utilization review, quality assurance, etc.) or provides certain specified services where the provision of the service involves the disclosure of PHI for a covered entity.

WORKFORCE

• The American Psychiatric Nurses Association resource center provides integrated care resources to help nurses plan and implement the integration of mental healthcare into primary and specialty healthcare settings.
• The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) offers a list of nursing grant programs that fund nurse training programs, support nursing education opportunities, and help to strengthen the nursing workforce.
• SAMHSA’s Buprenorphine: A Guide for Nurses provides information for nurses (including registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, and nurse practitioners) about buprenorphine products for the pharmacological treatment of opioid addiction. The guide can help nurses working with community physicians to improve treatment outcomes for individuals receiving office-based treatment for opioid addiction.

IN THE NEWS

• Reducing Disparities in the Quality of Care for Racial and Ethnic Minorities explores key lessons on how communities can share data, encourage collaboration, and make patients and clients part of improving quality for all.
• A new smart phone application developed by researchers at Tel Aviv University is poised to transform the monitoring and treatment of people with mental illnesses.
• The National Health Service Corps (NHSC) provides scholarships and repays educational loans for primary care physicians, dentists, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, behavioral health providers, medical residents, and other primary care providers who agree to practice in areas of the country that need them most. 
• Check out the latest edition of ¡Avanzamos!, NAMI's magazine for the Latino community, which features information about CIHS' Whole Health Action Management (WHAM) peer-support training (now available inSpanish).
• A study conducted by the Cancer Support Community, a global nonprofit network of cancer support, found that high levels of distress were significantly linked to an increased likelihood of patients seeking support from a member of their healthcare team, especially among patients with lower income.

ESOLUTIONS

• Addressing Spirituality in Healthcare describes approaches to addressing spirituality as part of the whole health of the people you serve. (June 2014)
• Can Nurses Be the Cornerstone of Integrated Care? reviews the role of nurses in primary and behavioral healthcare integration efforts. (May 2014)