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December 7, 2017

Advancing Public Policies for People with Mental Illness, Chemical Dependency or Developmental Disabilities   

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Francine Sinkoff, Editor
fs@clmhd.org
(I/DD) 1115 Waiver Transition Plan Available for Public Comment

OPWDD has published a draft Transition Plan for public comment (accepted through January 5, 2018) which lays out New York State's plans to better integrate services based on person-centered planning for people with developmental disabilities. 

The Transition Plan is a required element to enable people with developmental disabilities to move to New York State's 1115 Waiver, and for the development of Care Coordination Organization/Health Home Services (CCO/HH). The activities laid out in the Transition Plan have the goal of helping to make our system more flexible and responsive to the needs of individuals and families.  
Read more here.
OMH Requests Proposals to Fund Operation of 100 Supportive Housing Units for New York City and Long Island











Warren, Washington Counties Consider Juvenile Detention Facility [Raise the Age law set to take effect in Fall 2018]



Federal Judicial Panel Sends Pending Prescription Opioid Cases to Nationwide MDL Docket in Ohio

Mortality from opioid addiction quadruples

Circulation and Lyft Partner for Non-Emergency Medical Transportation




Women who attempt suicide exhibit different protein levels years after the attempt


NPR PODCAST:
Opioids In The Family

NPR's Rachel Martin talks with retired U.S. Navy Admiral James Winnefeld about his son's addiction to opioids, an experi ence he wrote about for in The Atlantic .




December 12, 2 - 3:30 pm, Judges & Psychiatrists Leadership Initiative


Persons with Lived Experience Spotlight Series:  Achieving Stability and Recovery with SOAR
December 20, 1 - 2:15 pm, SAMHSA 

December 20, 1 - 2:20 pm, Judges & Psychiatrists Leadership Initiative

 
CALENDAR OF EVENTS

DECEMBER 2017

Children & Families Committee Meeting
December 19:  11:30 am - 1 pm,  GTM

Directors & Executive Committee Combined Meeting
December 20:  9:30 - 12:30 pm
GTM

Office Closed - Christmas
December 25


Contact CLMHD for all Call In and Go To Meeting information, 518.462.9422 
NYS DOH Bureau of Social Determinants of Health Announced

The NYS DOH Office of Health Insurance Programs (OHIP) is thrilled to announce the establishment of the Bureau of Social Determinants of Health within the Division of Program Development and Management (DPDM). 
 
New York's Medicaid program is a national leader in its work on the social determinants of health and its investment in supportive housing. Therefore, OHIP has decided to dedicate an entire bureau to focus on this important topic.  
 
The new bureau will focus its work on the social determinants of health (SDH) and the important role it plays in the health outcomes of New York's most vulnerable populations. The Bureau of Social Determinants of Health will focus on special SDH initiatives including but not limited to supportive housing, nutrition, and education. The bureau will work closely with Performing Provider Systems (PPS), VBP contractors, Health Plans, and Providers. It will also continue to enhance the role of Community Based Organizations (CBOs) within the health care sector. 

The Bureau will be led by Denard Cummings and report to Elizabeth Misa, Deputy Medicaid Director.  Send any questions to mrtsupportivehousing@health.ny.gov
FDA Approves Once-Monthly Buprenorphine Injection for Opioid Use Disorder

In a press release issued November 30, 2017, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced it has approved Sublocade, a once-monthly buprenorphine injection for moderate to severe opioid use disorder (OUD).

Current buprenorphine-based treatments for OUD employ an  oral mode of administration
(in the form of a dissolvable film or tablets) and require daily intake, thus posing the issue of medication adherence. These treatments are also available in the form of an implant ( Probuphine), which provides stable delivery of low-dose buprenorphine over a 6-month period.2 The agency's commissioner, Scott Gottlieb, MD, noted in the press release the importance of providing an array of treatment options for OUD.  Read more here.
SAMHSA Accepting Applications for up to $42.5 Million for Family Treatment Drug Courts 

SAMHSA is accepting applications for $42.5 million in Family Treatment Drug Courts Grants. The purpose of this program is to expand substance use disorder treatment services in existing family treatment drug courts. These courts use the family treatment drug court model to provide alcohol and drug treatment to parents with substance use or mental disorders, or both. Services address the needs of the family as a whole to encourage recovery.  Read more  here
Value-Based Payment As Part Of A Broader Strategy To Address Opioid Addiction Crisis

Opioid addiction in the United States is affecting not only individuals and their families, but public health and the US economy at large. In 2015, there were 
33,091 opioid-involved drug overdose deaths (prescription opioids and heroin). Opioid addiction causes more than just loss of life; opioid-addicted individuals report significantly lower quality of life and cost employers approximately $12 billion each year in lost productivity. While the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) and the Affordable Care Act mandated parity between insurance benefits for mental health and substance use disorder and other medical care, opioid addiction is gravely undertreated. 

With the recent release of the " Pain Management and the Opioid Epidemic" report by the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine and the report by the President's Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis, there is a need to develop a comprehensive and coordinated set of strategies to address the crisis.  Read more here.
AHRQ Statistical Brief:
Comparison of All-Cause 7-Day and 30-Day Re-admissions 

There have been increasing efforts among health care policymakers, payers, and providers to measure and reduce hospital re-admissions. This Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) statistical brief presents data on rates of seven-day re-admissions compared with 30-day re-admissions in 2014. Schizophrenia, alcohol-related disorders, and congestive heart failure were among the leading diagnoses with both the highest seven-day and 30-day readmission rates. Among Medicaid patients who were discharged with congestive heart failure or schizophrenia at the index stay, nearly one in 10 stays resulted in readmission within seven days. Among individuals readmitted within 30 days of an index stay for septicemia or schizophrenia, uninsured individuals were more likely than individuals with insurance to return within seven days. To read the full brief, click here .
The Emerging Digital Treatment Era

It appears we're on the verge of moving to an era of digital treatment. It's not like we haven't seen web-based and smartphone-based therapies in the previous decade, we certainly have. In fact, there are over 165,000 health and medical apps on Google play and in the app store, and about 30% of the adult population owns a wearable.

But, from a policy perspective, the FDA has finally officially recognized that many of these therapies go beyond advisory or adjunctive and will become an integral part of the treatment process. 

What is the range of digital treatment technologies? Digital treatment technology is a broad term used to describe a technology tool that can be used to treat a consumer's physical, behavioral, or cognitive health condition. These tech tools include mobile apps, devices that feed information into medical apps, wearables, and telehealth. Read more here.
Five Things To Look Out For When Selecting Care Coordination Software

It used to be that interventions were the cornerstone of acute care. A patient would arrive at a hospital with a medical problem and the healthcare providers in that location -- nurses, doctors and ancillary staff -- would respond to the patient's needs and provide treatment. After the individual received care, they would be sent home or to a post-acute facility, to further recover. For all intents and purposes, the acute providers' work was done, and they would turn their focus to the next patient.

Of course, it is clear that a patient's ultimate outcome doesn't hinge just on what happens during their hospital stay. In fact, it is often determined by a number of social factors that stretch far beyond the hospital's walls: the type of support system someone has at home, the neighborhood where they live, the ability to purchase and prepare healthy food options, access to adequate transportation to pick up medications or to keep follow-up appointments -- the list goes on. 

Inattention to such social determinants of health can lead to negative consequences, including poor clinical outcomes and preventable readmissions. Not only do these important determinants create challenges for the patient and family once they leave the hospital setting, but they also stand to impact hospitals financially -- particularly now that acute organizations are being penalized for unnecessary readmissions. Read more here.
The Conference of Local Mental Hygiene Directors advances public policies and awareness for people with mental illness, chemical dependency and developmental disabilities.  We are a statewide membership organization that consists of the Commissioner/ Director of each of the state's 57 county mental hygiene departments and the mental hygiene department of the City of New York.

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