Health IT | Behavioral Health Today

Behavioral Health Providers’ Red Flag: AMA asks (again) that HHS Pull the Plug on ICD-10 Implementation in 2013

Citing significant financial and administrative burdens, the AMA has asked Secretary Sebelius to postpone and streamline the 2013 mandated conversion to ICD-10. The AMA is clear that there are a wide range of health information technology initiatives and regulations they have to adopt and comply with right now and contends that converting from the [...]

CMS Eases ICD-10 Deadline by 90 Days…many believe that may not be enough

CMS STATEMENT

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Office of E-Health Standards and Services Announces 90-Day Period of Enforcement Discretion for Compliance with New HIPAA Transaction Standards

Today the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Office of E-Health Standards and Services (OESS) announced that it would not initiate enforcement [...]

SAMHSA awards up to $25 million to expand use of health information technology

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) announced today it is awarding up to 29 new grants, totaling up to $25 million over three years, to expand use of health information technology to increase access to behavioral health services.

This program will leverage technology to improve access and coordination of the [...]

New Health Care Cost Institute to Transform the Study of U.S. Health Care Spending

First-ever Collection of Data from Leading Private Sector Insurers will Enable Broadest View of Health Care Cost Drivers and Trends

(September 20, 2011) – The Health Care Cost Institute, an unprecedented health research initiative launched today, will allow researchers and policymakers access to a comprehensive collection of health plan and government payer [...]

Costs of EHR Implementation Coming Into Clear View

A recent study, “The financial and nonfinancial costs of implementing electronic health records in primary care practices,”was conducted by researchers from Baylor Health Care System, Emory University, and the HealthTexas Provider Network (published in the March 2011 issue of Health Affairs).The study puts the cost for an average five-physician primary care practice at$162,000 for implementation and an [...]

New Federal Strategic Plans Demand Behavioral Health Sector’s Attention

The Federal Health IT Strategic Plan (2011-2015) and the National Strategy for Quality Improvement in Health Care were both released last week and each will have a profound impact on the treatment of mental health and substance use disorders in the coming years. Each has implications for the field and each is fairly straightforward. [...]

EHR Systems and Behavioral Health: Advice for the Faint of Heart

The RAND Corporation recently released a report expounding the virtues of electronic health records systems’ positive impact on healthcare costs. This hotly debated topic almost always addresses the cost of medical care, hospitalizations, labs, imaging and surgery and almost never includes the cost of behavioral health. Our field’s rate of technology adoption probably has [...]

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