2024 Behavioral Health Management Summit

Conference Registration & Networking Breakfast

8:00am – 8:15am

Chairperson’s Opening Remarks

8:15am – 9:00am

Strategies to Address Behavioral Health Workforce Shortages

Nearly half of all Americans will have a behavioral health issue in their lifetime, from a mood disorder to a substance use problem. Behavioral healthcare encompasses a wide variety of interventions delivered by many different types of providers. In the U.S., nearly all these providers are in short supply. The scarcity of behavioral health professionals is undermining people’s ability to get timely care. This is reinforced by historical underinvestment in behavioral health care by public insurance programs (like Medicaid and Medicare), private insurers, and employers — including lack of coverage and low reimbursement rates. In 2021, fewer than half of people with a mental illness were able to access timely care; those with substance use disorders were even less likely. Some groups are disproportionately impacted by workforce shortages. To better understand these shortages, this session will examine who makes up the behavioral health workforce and the challenges they face in providing care to underserved communities.

9:00am – 9:45am

Achieving Behavioral Health Care Integration in Rural America

Integrating primary care services and treatment for mental health and substance use conditions not only enhances patients’ access to needed care but also improves health outcomes in a cost-effective way. Yet the barriers to integrated care are substantial, and it is even more difficult to achieve in rural and frontier communities, which are home to 1 in 7 Americans. Primary care providers already handle some of the behavioral healthcare needs of their patients, but they describe feeling overwhelmed, ill-equipped to handle these tasks, and underpaid. To incentivize and enable primary care providers to take on a greater role in delivering mental health and substance use treatment services, they need training, technical assistance, adequate reimbursement, and access to a larger pool of behavioral health providers for both consultations and referrals. This session will explore the opportunities and challenges related to delivering integrated care in rural areas.

9:45am – 10:15am

Networking & Refreshments Break

10:15am – 11:00am

School-Based Mental and Behavioral Health

Mentally healthy children are more successful in school and life. Research demonstrates that students who receive social–emotional and mental and behavioral health support achieve better academically. School climate, classroom behavior, engagement in learning, and students’ sense of connectedness and well-being all improve as well. Mental health is not simply the absence of mental illness but also encompasses wellness promotion; social, emotional, and behavioral health; and the ability to cope with life’s challenges. Left unmet, mental health problems are linked to costly negative outcomes such as academic and behavior problems, dropping out, and delinquency. Mental and behavioral health problems not only affect students’ short-term classroom engagement, but also interfere with long-term development of positive relationships and work-related skills. This session will explore the landscape of mental and behavioral health services in schools, barriers to offering services, and how recent policies facilitate the expansion of school-based mental and behavioral healthcare.

11:00am – 11:45pm

Telehealth and Behavioral Health Integration

Wide adoption and expansion of telehealth in primary care and behavioral health took place rapidly as a means to provide ongoing patient care during the COVID-19 pandemic. The implementation of telehealth continues to rapidly change and evolve, particularly with regard to policies, payment, regulations and laws. To be able to provide patient-centered integrated behavioral healthcare in primary and ambulatory care practices, those actively engaged in behavioral health integration must keep up with these changes, with a keen focus on the importance of tailoring telehealth choices to the needs of patients, providers, and care teams. This session will provide practical information and resources for using telehealth technologies to implement patient-centered integrated behavioral health care in primary and ambulatory care practices, including:

• Various components of integrated behavioral healthcare that can be supported via telehealth technologies
• Models of integrated behavioral healthcare that have been fully or partially implemented using telehealth technologies
• Evidence for the use of telehealth technologies for behavioral health integration
• Things to consider when using telehealth technologies for behavioral health integration

11:45am – 12:30pm

Mental Health and Virtual Reality: The Role of Emerging Technologies in Transforming Behavioral and Mental Healthcare

With one out of eight people in the world living with a mental disorder, behavioral and mental health has become a critical concern of global importance. However, many people are still not receiving the care they need and deserve. Fortunately, emerging technologies are becoming more affordable and accessible, offering new possibilities to transform mental health care. One such solution is mental health services in virtual reality.

To explore the key role emerging technologies play in revolutionizing the field of behavioral and mental health, this session will explore the current challenges the industry faces and how new technologies can potentially address them. We’ll discuss how digital and immersive technologies can augment the delivery of mental health care services.

12:30pm – 1:30 pm

Lunch Break

1:30pm – 2:15pm

The Future of Behavioral Healthcare

Navigating through the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic calls for a nimble, creative and robust redesign of funding mechanisms and associated policies to invest in the U.S.’s behavioral healthcare system. This session will explore significant and high-potential opportunities to expand quality integrated healthcare through community behavioral health organizations. We’ll also discuss addressing behavioral health needs at the local, state and federal level.

2:15pm – 3:15pm

Panel: Improving Behavioral Health: A Community Effort

Across the country, communities are facing significant challenges in meeting the growing needs for behavioral health care services. Healthcare and community-based organizations alike have seen that they cannot tackle this surge in demand alone. This session will explore strategic and coordinated efforts that champion a comprehensive and proactive approach to mental wellness—leaving no individual or community behind. Topics to be discussed will include:

• The pivotal role of community-based organizations in enhancing mental health care delivery
• The importance of building networks that embrace diversity and cultural sensitivity
• Strategies for seamless collaboration between healthcare organizations and local community partners

3:15pm – 3:45pm

Networking & Refreshments Break

3:45pm – 4:30pm

Advancing Health Equity through Behavioral Health Integration

This session will present considerations and approaches to address disparities that disproportionately affect racial and ethnic minority groups in receiving equitable behavioral healthcare and accessing treatment. We will focus on diversity/equity related to race/ethnicity, socio-economic status, and sexual orientation and gender identity. We’ll also highlight how mental health and primary care colleagues can work together to provide coordinated, culturally-informed and equitable care.

4:30pm – 5:15pm

The Essential Role of Mental Health for A Diverse, Inclusive Workplace

In response to global protests for racial justice, employers around the world are emphasizing their commitment to inclusion and social equity. To deliver on this commitment, organizations must ensure employees from diverse backgrounds can access effective mental health support – a challenge that has been overlooked for too long. Recent acts of racism and violence, and the health disparities of COVID-19, are taking a toll on mental health. As employers strive to advance racial justice, they must focus on mental health in both their workplaces and their communities. This session will explore several important steps they can take.

5:15pm

End of Day One

Networking Breakfast

8:00am – 8:15am

Chairperson’s Recap

8:15am – 9:00am

Specialized Behavioral Health Treatment for Women

Women who are affected mainly by behavioral and mental health illnesses are often reluctant to get help. Seeking treatment can feel daunting. The fight against behavioral and mental illness in the healthcare industry is real. Diagnosing severe conditions isn’t easy. Depression and anxiety, bipolar disorder as well as schizophrenia are amongst the main conditions that require proper diagnosis. There is an underlying stigma attached to mental disease that keeps people from being treated. Millions of adults in the U.S. are treated for mental illness each year. Behavioral and mental health disorders can affect women and men differently. Some disorders are more common in women, such as depression, anxiety and eating disorders. There are also certain disorders that are unique to women. For example, some women experience symptoms of depression at times of hormone change, such as during or after pregnancy, around the time of their period (premenstrual dysphoric disorder), and during menopause (perimenopause-related depression). This session will explore specialized behavioral health treatment for women.

9:00am – 9:45am

Importance of Talking about Mental Health in the Workplace

Make no mistake, the success and longevity of a business rely on the collective, positive mental health of its workers. Positive mental health gives a person resiliency against life’s stressors, challenges, and setbacks — obstacles that often go hand-in-hand with a job. Being fortified against the negative emotions and anxiety that accompany difficult times can help a person navigate with agility and remain productive. While employers are often aware of the costs of mental health issues to their business, they may not be as aware of the extent of employees’ mental health struggles. One reason may be that employees don’t feel comfortable talking about their personal or mental health issues with superiors. Some even feared that discussing it could lead to being fired or furloughed or cost them a promotion. When a manager or supervisor makes a habit of addressing the importance of mental health in the workplace, everyone benefits. A healthy state of mind can translate to higher levels of creativity along with a greater sense of self-worth and sense of happiness. This session will explore the attributes for nurturing high performance and strong corporate culture, and the importance of talking about mental health in the workplace.

9:45am – 10:15am

Networking & Refreshments Break

10:15am – 11:00am

Homelessness, Housing Instability and Behavioral Health

Mental health conditions are highly prevalent in homeless populations. Although homeless individuals have higher mortality related to many causes, access to care is poorer than that for the general population. This session will explore the challenges and obstacles that homeless individuals encounter in accessing mental healthcare, and considerations that must be accounted for when working with this population.

11:00am – 11:45am

The Integration of Care for Mental Health, Substance Abuse, and Other Behavioral Health Conditions into Primary Care

Behavioral health care includes care for patients around mental health and substance abuse conditions, health behavior change, life stresses and crises, and stress-related physical symptoms. Mental and substance use disorders alone are estimated to surpass all physical diseases as a major cause of worldwide disability. This session will explore:

– The importance of the healthcare system effectively addressing behavioral health conditions

– Better integration of behavioral health into the primary care setting

– Barriers to increased integration into primary care

– Various approaches of integrated care delivery

11:45am – 12:30pm

Behavioral Healthcare Billing: How to Maximize Your Reimbursement Rate

Billing is one of the most critical skills needed to succeed in the field of behavioral healthcare. Whether you’re a psychiatrist, psychiatric nurse practitioner, psychologist or counselor, you’ve probably experienced at least one situation in which you couldn’t get an insurer to pay out on a claim and had to take the loss. Unless you work in a practice with a dedicated billing and coding specialist, you likely handle billing and compensation yourself, and any professional will admit this can be frustrating. If you’re struggling to maximize your insurance reimbursement for mental health services, you’re not alone. This session will provide you with some helpful tools, tips and tricks to help ensure you get the maximum payout every time.

12:30pm

Conference Concludes

Workshop

Behavioral and Mental Health: Design to Meet the Challenges of Today and Tomorrow

The mental health crisis around the world continues to grow at alarming rates that affects individuals of all ages, ethnicities and socio-economic positions. These challenges reach far beyond the behavioral health unit into a myriad of care settings. Now, more than ever, it is imperative that these settings respond to complexities of care, provide flexibility to fluid care needs, and offer equity to patients. To meet the increased demand for care, support improved care and enhance staff safety, today’s design, facility and care professionals have to advance their understanding of the environment’s impact on behavioral healthcare and learn how to incorporate the best and latest design solutions throughout all healthcare settings. This session will provide the latest in design thinking for behavioral and mental health care settings and offers state-of-the-art best practices. Attendees will have opportunities to pose questions and interact with fellow attendees in fun and innovative ways.