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Governor Pritzker Announces New Executive Order to Increase Telehealth Services for Illinois Residents

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On Thursday, March 19, 2020, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker announced an executive order to expand telehealth services in the state of IL in response to COVID-19. As the outbreak of the virus continues to grow in our communities, it is important that we practice social distancing, which is maintaining a safe distance of at least … Read more

How the Coronavirus Response Spending Bill Will Affect Telehealth

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President Donald Trump signed into law the “Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2020” on Friday, March 6, after it passed the U.S. Senate by a vote of 96-1. This bill provides $8.3 billion in emergency funding to help U.S. researchers and healthcare providers address the outbreak of COVID-19.

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Expand your reach with Telehealth

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Telehealth, also called telemedicine, is the practice of using technology to provide healthcare remotely. When used for behavioral health, such as psychiatric evaluations or talk therapy sessions, it may also be called telepsychiatry. 

Telehealth or telepsychiatry usually involves the direct interaction between a provider and a client, but the term may also be used for communications and consultations between providers.

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State Reporting for Behavioral Health: Deciphering the Alphabet Soup

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If your behavioral health agency is using an electronic health record (EHR) system to measure outcomes and report data, you know that there are numerous reporting techniques.

Payers like Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurers use these reporting techniques to measure client outcomes. This allows the payer either to provide bonus payments under incentive programs, or withhold payments for undesirable outcomes. In this way, healthcare systems are migrating from fee-for-service (FFS) to value-based payment (VBP) models.

Different reimbursement programs require different types of reporting. Unfortunately, the “alphabet soup” of acronyms for different reporting methods can be confusing and overwhelming. Let’s decipher some of these reporting types.

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2020 – A Look At The Year Ahead

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There’s never been a more dynamic and innovative time in the health and wellness industry, leading to the best treatment for clients. Many updates and adaptations have replaced archaic systems and processes, and created streamlined, efficient approaches that save time and cost. Providers are able to better serve their clients, and clients receive more personalized care and understanding. While endless changes have occurred in the last few years, we anticipate even greater new trends in 2020. From regulation changes to enhanced data access, exciting changes are explored in our look at the year ahead.

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Streamline’s Year In Review: 2019’s Key Industry Changes

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The healthcare industry has experienced dynamic changes in 2019, resulting in many advances for running a practice or facility with efficiency and enhanced tools for communication. From changes in legislation to key trends, Streamline Healthcare Solutions (Streamline) has explored the major breakthroughs and movements to offer a comprehensive look at the year in review. Legislation … Read more

How Technology Advances Impact The Internal Organization

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Today’s technological advances are not only increasing the mental healthcare system’s overall efficiency, but are leading to better internal organizational development. As state requirements become more refined, the change to online record use is serving to revolutionize the data holding process and information sharing. The same technology is also offering parallel benefits within participating organization’s cultures and staff’s performances. To better understand the positive impact that technological changes make, we’ve explored how the data collected for your state’s requirements transform into benefits for your internal organization’s needs.

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The Importance of Value-Based Care in Behavioral Health

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As the healthcare field evolves into a more efficient system, key changes allow for advances that are revolutionizing the industry. An innovative new value-based care model has expanded the focus to reducing costs, decreasing medical errors, and achieving better overall health for clients. Providers are increasingly turning to this value-based healthcare model in order to achieve value-based results. 

Under this model, providers are rewarded for helping individuals reduce the negative impact chronic disease can have on a client’s life and the number of occurrences of chronic diseases. Rather than being paid by each service they prescribe or perform, they are rewarded based on the health of the client.

A value-based model can: 

  • Lower costs for clients
  • Increase client satisfaction
  • Offer reduced health risks
  • Align prices with outcomes 
  • Lead to better overall health 

This model is spreading through the primary care industry and while it’s had a positive impact, the behavioral health industry has been slower to adopt it.

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Better Technology Access for a Better Tomorrow

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With a rapidly growing need for better mental health care, easy accessibility for treatment sources is vital. Due to technology advances, there are more possibilities than ever to find client care in a reliable, secure way. According to a 2017 report published by Mental Health America, although more than 43 million Americans have a mental health condition, many of those individuals lack access to healthcare. As a growing epidemic that affects a vast number of people globally, innovative solutions are being developed and utilized to change the landscape of mental health care for the better.

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The Growing Need for More CCBHCs and Their Uncertain Future

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CCBHCs are responsible for directly providing (or contracting with partner organizations to provide) nine required types of services, with an emphasis on the provision of 24-hour crisis care, utilization of evidence-based practices, care coordination, and integration with physical health care. In return for providing these services, they receive an enhanced Medicaid reimbursement rate based on their cost of care. But, the time limit on this healthcare experiment is coming to a close. Will the progress made by these clinics be enough to convince Congress to extend funding for the program? The question should be answered soon.

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