A recent Axios article highlights flaws in addiction treatment centers. Reuters recently reported only 15% of patients in residential drug and alcohol treatment programs are receiving medication assisted treatment (MAT). However, research proves that MAT is the most effective form of treatment for those struggling with opioid use disorder (OUD). The article goes into depth about consumers not always having the proper information needed to decide if a treatment center is the best fit for themselves or a family member. Learn more.

Quality Insights offers training, technical assistance and outreach to small and mid-sized provider groups and other eligible professionals in Pennsylvania to assist with participation in the Medicaid Promoting Interoperability Program and in meaningfully using EHR systems. Quality Insights engages with Pennsylvania’s certified health information organizations and the Public Health Gateway (PHG) to increase health information exchange in Pennsylvania. For more information, call (877) 346-6180.

The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS) has grants available to Pennsylvania health information organizations (HIOs) to help connect hospitals and ambulatory practices to the PA eHealth Partnership Program’s Pennsylvania Patient & Provider Network (P3N). The P3N enables electronic health information exchange across the state through the connection of healthcare providers to an HIO, and the participation of the HIO in the P3N. The anticipated performance period for this grant runs through Sept. 30, 2020 but if you are interested in this program, it is crucial that you reach out to one of the PA certified HIOs as soon as possible. HIO’s must submit bids to DHS by March 24, 2020 for these grants. Information about the PA certified HIOs can be found here.

The federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has released notice of proposed rulemaking on Mobile Methadone Vans for public comment. The DEA proposes to revise the existing regulations for narcotic treatment programs (NTPs) to allow a mobile component associated with the registered program to be considered an equivalent activity.  The revisions to these regulations are intended to make maintenance or detoxification treatments more widely available, while ensuring that safeguards are in place to reduce the likelihood of diversion.

The state Senate and House of Representatives are continuing to hold budget hearings next week. On Wednesday, March 4, the House Appropriations Committee will hold a hearing with the Department of Human Services beginning at 10:00 am. Access the Senate budget hearing schedule and House budget hearing schedule with links to watch them live or listen to recordings of past hearings.

The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) has announced a series of public input sessions to identify critical opportunities and challenges facing Appalachia’s economic future. Envision Appalachia: Community Conversations for ARC’s Strategic Plan will gather insights from these public sessions, coupled with guidance from regional, state, and local partners, and will inform ARC’s strategic plan for fiscal years 2021-2025. ARC develops a new strategic plan every five years in accordance with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). More than 3,000 Appalachians provided input to develop ARC’s current strategic plan, which expires on September 30, 2020.

“As we plan ARC’s investment strategy for the years to come, it is important that we be informed by the people we serve,” said ARC Federal Co-Chairman Tim Thomas. “These public input sessions for the next ARC Strategic Plan will provide Appalachian communities the opportunity to have a voice in this process, and I encourage the people of Appalachia to take part in one of these sessions.”

Each session, organized in conjunction with ARC’s state partner, runs from 9:30 am-3:00 pm, is open to the public and free to attend. Space is limited, so please register as soon as possible!

April 8 – Huntsville, AL
April 16 – Ashland, KY
April 22 – Youngstown, OH
April 30 – Abingdon, VA

If you cannot attend an event, ARC is also collecting input via this public survey.

Visit arc.gov/strategicplan to join this important conversation.

On February 27, 2020, the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) announced new leadership for the National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services.  Former Kansas Governor Jeff Colyer will be the fifth chair in the 32-year history of the Committee.

Also known as the NACRHHS, the Committee was formed in 1987 as an independent advisory group focused on provision of health care in rural areas.  Joining the chair for two meetings each year are 20 committee members who include hospital CEOs, educators, experts on aging, physicians, certified registered nurse anesthetists, physician assistants, researchers, community health center directors and state office of rural health directors.  For each meeting, two areas of focus are selected; committee members conduct site visits and follow up with a policy brief and recommendations for the HHS Secretary.

Colyer, a surgeon by training, will be the fifth chair in the 32-year history of the Committee and the second chair from Kansas after Nancy Kassebaum Baker, who served during the Bush Administration. Colyer’s appointment coincides with a series of actions the Secretary has taken to bring more attention to rural health.

In late 2018, Secretary Azar created the HHS Rural Task Force to streamline efforts across HHS to be more focused on developing policy and program changes needed to transform health care in rural America.

“Improving healthcare in rural America is one of President Trump’s most important healthcare priorities, and addressing our rural health crisis is one of the key impactable health challenges the President has identified,” said Secretary Alex Azar. “President Trump’s administration has already put more attention on this challenge than it has seen for years, and we are delighted to welcome someone of Governor Colyer’s stature and experience to chair this Committee. The Committee will play an integral role in our ambitious ongoing efforts at HHS to transform rural healthcare, and Governor Colyer will work closely with me, Deputy Secretary Hargan, and the HHS Rural Health Task Force.”

The Committee was established by statute in 1987 to advise the Secretary on access to, delivery of, and financing for health care and human services in rural areas. The Committee produces policy briefs and reports on key rural issues, along with recommendations to address the challenges. The Committee is comprised of 21 members, including the chair, who represent the diversity of health and human service issues in rural America. In addition, the members represent an appropriate geographic representative mix from across the country, including the chair, selected by the Secretary from authorities knowledgeable in the fields of delivery, financing, research, development and administration of health care and human services in rural areas.

Members provide an array of expertise, including the range of rural-focused health programs under the purview of the Secretary, and are knowledgeable in the fields of rural human and social services. Examples include issues related to transportation, children and family services, social work, services for the elderly and rural economic development.

“As a Kansas doctor and a former governor, I know how important good medical care is to our rural communities,” said Governor Colyer. “President Trump’s and Secretary Azar’s insistence on improving rural health is a major step forward, and I want to thank the President and Secretary Azar for their push to improve the lives of rural Americans.”

Governor Jeff Colyer M.D. of Overland Park, Kansas finished his gubernatorial term in 2019. He is a fifth generation Kansan from Hays who practices craniofacial and reconstructive surgery. In addition to his medical practice, he is known for volunteering with International Medical Corps in war and conflict zones around the world including the Rwandan, Afghanistan, Iraq, South Sudan, and Libya.

Before becoming Governor, Colyer served in the House and Senate and was the longest serving Lt. Governor in Kansas history. He led Kansas’s Medicaid transformation into the first fully integrated managed care program in the United States and was noted for improving health outcomes, cutting waiting lists and saving over $2 billion through better care. As Governor he funded schools, saw more Kansans working than ever before, and left a $750 million budget surplus. He oversaw the first credit outlook upgrade in Kansas in more than a decade. He also emphasized improving rural health programs.

In addition to his service to the National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services, Governor Colyer also works with businesses in artificial intelligence, technology and healthcare. He was a White House Fellow to Presidents Reagan and Bush. He has degrees from Georgetown University (economics/premed), Cambridge University (Master’s in international relations), and the Kansas University School of Medicine with residency training in surgery and trauma, plastic surgery, and pediatric/craniofacial surgery. With his wife Ruth, they have three daughters.

The most recent meeting, in September of 2019, provided an opportunity for the Committee to identify topics aligned with HHS priorities.  Past meetings have covered topics such as Adverse Childhood Experiences, the impact of suicide, improving oral health care services, and modernizing Rural Health Clinic provisions.  Visit the NACRHHS for more details, including the Committee’s recommendations on each of these topics.  The Committee will host its first meeting of 2020 beginning Monday, March 2 and running through March 4 in Atlanta, Georgia.

Improved access will benefit rural areas with limited treatment options

WASHINGTON – The Drug Enforcement Administration announced on February 26, 2020, an important step to improve access to medication assisted treatment, especially in rural areas where those suffering with opioid use disorder may have limited treatment options.

“Thankfully, prescription opioid overdose deaths have declined more than 13 percent, but thousands of Americans still suffer from addiction and opioid use disorder,” said DEA Acting Administrator Uttam Dhillon. “Today’s proposal is an important step to improve access to medication assisted therapy, a successful evidence-based practice to treat opioid dependence. DEA is committed to ensuring that these tools and resources are available to everyone, especially in rural areas where treatment options may be limited.”

Under the proposal published today, narcotic treatment program registrants authorized to dispense narcotic drugs approved to treat opioid dependence would be authorized to implement a “mobile component” to their registration, eliminating the need for a separate DEA registration. This streamlined registration process will make it easier for providers to offer needed services in remote or underserved areas.

In April 2000, DEA, in association with the American Methadone Treatment Association – now the American Association for the Treatment of Opioid Dependence – developed guidelines for NTPs to ensure more uniform standards throughout the United States. As the opioid crisis evolves, DEA and their partners seek to provide additional tools and resources to further increase accessibility for persons with opioid use disorder. Alternative methods, such as mobile components of NTPs, can be used to bring treatment to those in rural or other underserved areas where NTPs are not accessible, or to allow people who are unable to travel to an NTP to receive care.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 67,000 Americans lost their lives to drugs in 2018, and more than half of those deaths involved opioids. The demand for evidence-based medication-assisted treatment for substance use disorders, including opioid use disorder, has increased over the years, especially for services provided by NTPs. In some areas of the country, this has resulted in long waiting lists and high services fees, especially in rural communities.

The distance to the nearest NTP or the lack of consistent access to transportation in rural and underserved communities may prevent or substantially impede access to these critical services. There are more than 1,700 NTPs registered with DEA, including opioid treatment programs, detoxification treatment services that utilize methadone, and compounders. This proposed rule builds on existing experience and provides additional flexibility for NTPs in operating mobile components, subject to the regulatory restrictions put into place to prevent the diversion of controlled substances.

The proposed rule is available here

On February 25, 2020, HHS released the following statement on the coronavirus supplemental request.

“The Administration has been effectively utilizing all available resources to protect the American people from COVID-19. Today, the White House sent a supplemental request to Congress to make $2.5 billion available for COVID-19 response efforts, including an emergency supplemental appropriation of $1.25 billion. HHS will also use the Secretary’s transfer authority to provide needed resources to continue the Department’s robust and multi-layered public health preparedness and response efforts – including public health surveillance, epidemiology, laboratory testing, support for state and local governments and other key partners, advanced research and development of new vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics, advanced manufacturing enhancements, and support for the Strategic National Stockpile.”

Read the letter here: https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Coronavirus-Supplemental-Request-Letter-Final.pdf