Behavioral Health Information Technology Coalition Senate Briefing on Behavioral Health Information Technology July 20, 2011

Transcription

1 Behavioral Health Information Technology Coalition Senate Briefing on Behavioral Health Information Technology July 20, The Behavioral Health Information Technology Coalition of which the National Association of Psychiatric Health Systems (NAPHS) is a member drew a standing-room crowd for a July 2011 congressional briefing on the capacity of electronic health records (EHRs) to reduce mortality and morbidity among patients with mental and addictive disorders. NAPHS President/CEO Mark Covall moderated the event. 385 Panelists included (from left to right): Moderator Mark Covall, president & CEO, National Association of Psychiatric Health Systems (NAPHS); Dennis King, president, Maine Health Mental Health Partners; CEO, Spring Harbor Hospital, Westbrook, ME; and past president of the National Association of Psychiatric Health Systems; Joan Sivley, board member, Centerstone Research Institute, Nashville, TN; Don Miskowiec, chief executive officer, North Central Behavioral Health System, Inc, Lasalle, IL; Joseph F. Cvitkovic, Ph.D., director of behavioral health care, Jefferson Regional Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA; and Kevin Scalia, executive vice president, Netsmart Technologies, Great River, NY. 1

2 Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse sponsor of S.539 encourages advocacy to win support for extension of IT funding to behavioral health. 159 Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) (left), who introduced S.539 (the Behavioral Health Information Technology Act) to extend health IT incentives to behavioral health, is welcomed to the briefing by moderator and NAPHS President/CEO Mark Covall (right). Sen. Whitehouse is a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee and the Special Committee on Aging. 404 A robust health infrastructure is an essential platform on which necessary and overdue reform will proceed, Sen. Whitehouse (at podium) said at the congressional briefing. If you are not part of this infrastructure, you are at a great disadvantage. Behavioral health advocates will need to push hard for legislation, he said. 2

3 123 Electronic health records (EHRs) add to the public good, Sen. Whitehouse said, by helping to support prevention of illness, providing incentives for physicians to make people well (vs. just doing more procedures), and by reducing adversarial arguments between insurers and providers (that add to the cost of care). Sen. Whitehouse thanked those present for their efforts to advance IT to behavioral health. He noted that for many patients seen in behavioral health settings, that behavioral health provider IS their primary care making equal access to the health infrastructure essential for behavioral health. Rep. Tim Murphy (R-PA) Notes Value of IT to Improved Care 318 Rep. Tim Murphy (R-PA) (left), a key presenter at the Senate briefing, is introduced by NAPHS President/CEO Mark Covall (right). Rep. Murphy cochairs the 21st Century Healthcare Caucus and Mental Health Caucus. He is also a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. 290 The cumbersome paper system is giving way the health electronic records, Rep. Murphy told the briefing participants. We want to see a new system, he said, that is interoperable, interactive (with mental health and medicine), integrated (so disciplines can work together), and intelligent (prompting clinicians with ideas for their consideration). But there are still a number of hurdles. EHRs are not permanent, and they are not portable. Rep. Murphy noted that he and former Rep. Kennedy had looked for funding for behavioral health IT last year, but we [as a nation] are out of money, he said. Although they tried for offsets in the bill, they were not there. He suggested that it would be helpful for behavioral health advocates to tell Congress how they are using IT to increase quality care and lower cost. He also urged providers to use technology to gather information to look at and improve their own efficiency. 3

4 420 Rep. Murphy (right) noted the value of building relationships between congressional leaders and constituents. Here Rep. Murphy is shown with panelist and constituent Joseph F. Cvitkovic, Ph.D. (left), director of behavioral health care, Jefferson Regional Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA. NAPHS Board Member Dennis King describes challenges facing providers and the need for enhanced federal funding for behavioral health IT. 072 NAPHS Board Member Dennis King delivered a presentation on Integrated Mental Health Delivery in a Large System: Challenges and Opportunities. Mr. King is president, Maine Health Mental Health Partners; and CEO, Spring Harbor Hospital, Westbrook, ME. He thanked congressional leaders including Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), who was an original sponsor of S.539 for their efforts to extend health IT funding to behavioral health. 4

5 397 As a large system, Maine Health includes many types of entities (including hospitals, CMHCs, 28 practices with mental health embedded, and more). We have a patchwork of IT services, which makes for an unreliable system we are looking to correct. While many entities within MaineHealth have access to Affordable Care Act stimulus money, behavioral health (along with some others such as home health) are not getting federal money. Yet this federal funding is essential to allow behavioral health to coordinate with the rest of the healthcare system. 345 Dennis King visits with a fellow panelist at the congressional briefing: Joan Sivley (right), who is a board member of Centerstone Research Institute in Nashville, TN. Ms. Sivley spoke movingly of the challenges that she faced as the mother of son ultimately diagnosed with schizophrenia. Because of the lack of communication between treatment settings (resulting from lack of any type of electronic record), each diagnosis was the first as they went to each hospital, each ER, each physician. Behavioral health needs interoperable records tied to personal health records just like those used by cardiologists and oncologists to make the right decisions. 5

6 The briefing drew attention from congressionai staff and other guests Brad Grantz, who works with Rep. Tim Murphy (R-PA), records the event. from Coalition partners National Council President Linda Rosenberg (left) visits with NAPHS Board Member Dennis King (second from left), NAPHS President/CEO Mark Covall, and NAPHS Director of Government Relations Nancy Trenti, J.D. (right). The National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare is a partner in the Behavioral Health IT Coalition, which hosted this congressional event. 6

7 344 Ronald Manderscheid, Ph.D. (right), visits with NAPHS President/CEO Mark Covall (left). Dr. Manderscheid is the executive director of the National Association of County Behavioral Health and Developmental Disability Directors, which is a Behavioral Health IT Coalition partner. 350 Kevin Scalia (left), executive vice president, Netsmart Technologies, visits with Dennis King and Mark Covall. and from the media. 011 Modern Healthcare s Jessica Zigmond (right), D.C. bureau chief for Modern Healthcare, was among media representatives attending the event. Here she talks with NAPHS President/CEO Mark Covall. 7

8 Add your voice in support of behavioral health IT funding. 408 Visit the NAPHS Web site for more information on how you can add your voice in support of legislation (S.539) to extending health IT funding to behavioral health. 8