Interoperability of behavioral health data a priority for 2024
The lack of effective EHR optimization to date is rooted in policy obstacles and a general lack of understanding.
Thomas Novak, senior advisor, state and policy at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, speaks at HIMSS24 in Orlando Monday.
Photo: Jeff Lagasse/Healthcare Finance News
ORLANDO – Behavioral health integration is an increasingly high priority for both the healthcare industry and the federal government, and with the focus on is expected to increase throughout the year, leaders at the Office of Policy of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA) are looking to revamp electronic health records systems to be friendlier towards behavioral health needs.
Thomas Novak, senior advisor, state and policy at ONC, spoke to the issue during his keynote address at the Behavioral Health Forum at HIMSS24 in Orlando on Monday. One of the big issues facing providers is that behavioral health data – such as it is – doesn't move efficiently and isn't easily accessible.
The two main problems with behavioral health at the moment, said Novak, are adoption and optimization. The lack of effective optimization to date, he said, is rooted in policy obstacles and a general lack of understanding.
Years ago, when Novak was still with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, CMS was in conversations with New York and New Jersey about their behavioral health needs. New York in particular wanted an EHR system that could report to public health systems, send information to labs, and pull up a complete immunization and medication history.
The state also wanted more homogeneity in terms of screening tools; each tool was different. Some were tied to payers, some to the city, state or county.
"Tools are great, but it's one sample of questions," said Novak, "and you're maybe trying to coordinate care and that information doesn't always move."
Another request made by New York concerned smartphone integration. They need an EHR, state officials said, because that counts smartphone encounters as ER encounters in order to ensure a more complete record. On top of that, providers are concerned about scheduling – specifically scheduling better and more easily.
A few months ago, Novak and some of his colleagues at SAMSHA issued grants to states to help with behavioral healthcare delivery, with a technical assistance component meant to improve the interoperability of the data. ONC and SAMSHA are currently in the process of hammering out a final rule of what such a system would look like.
The grants encompass $22 million over about three and a half years to work on something called an "informational resource" – essentially a summary of care that's essentially a descendent of meaningful use programs.
It's not currently optimized for behavioral health, said Novak, but that could change.
"It's not done yet, but many states have been spoken to," he said. "We're not done talking."
Jeff Lagasse is editor of Healthcare Finance News.
Email: jlagasse@himss.org
Healthcare Finance News is a HIMSS Media publication.
