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ABH November
Committee
Meetings
Tuesday, November 3 CSS/TSS, 10 a.m.
Monday, November 9
Billing, 10 a.m. (Hampton Inn, Natick)
Tuesday, November 10
CBFS, 2:30 p.m.
Thursday, November 12 CPS Oversight, 10 a.m.
Friday, November 13
Children’s Services, 10 a.m. (Hampton Inn, Natick)
Corporate Compliance, 10 a.m.
Tuesday, November 17
OTP, 9:30 a.m.
Thursday, November 19 Human Resources, 10 a.m.
DSM-5/ICD-10 Implementation, 10 a.m. (SMOC Café, Framingham)
Friday, November 20 DAE/SOA, 10 a.m.
Quality and Outcomes, 10 a.m. (Hampton Inn, Natick)
All meetings are held at ABH unless otherwise noted. For
more information, call 508-647-8385.
ABH's Salute to Excellence!
Friday, October 23rd from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Westin Waltham Hotel
**Check-In, Breakfast, and Exhibitor Fair begin at 8:00 a.m.**
Please join us in celebrating the accomplishments of those
who have made outstanding contributions to community-
based behavioral healthcare.
Click here to see our Award Winners
Exhibitor Fair
Starting at 8:00 a.m., visit with our exhibitors to learn about their various products geared towards community-based behavioral
health organizations!
Keynote Speaker
Attorney General Maura Healey
Register Now!
October 2015
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ABH’s Salute to Excellence is coming up on Friday, October 23. It’s a
day you don’t want to miss—full of inspirational stories and the chance
to celebrate and thank those who have made incredible contributions
to the field of behavioral health. There are only two remaining spon-
sorships (Gift Sponsor and Raffle Sponsor) and 3 remaining exhibitor
tables - so grab what is left before you miss out!
For more information, visit our sponsorship page or contact Ellen
Caliendo at [email protected] .
ABH Salute to Excellence Sponsorship Opportunities
The Department of Mental Health has released four RFRs for Homeless Support Ser-
vices. Their content is available on the following COMMBUYS links:
Outreach and Engagement
Stabilization
Housing First
Program Staff Supports
Please contact Eric Pilsmaker ([email protected] ) if you have questions about navigating
COMMBUYS.
The rates for these services were published on September 11, 2015 and can be found in 101 CMR 421.00:
Rates for Adult Housing and Community Support Services.
RFRs for Homeless Support Services
The Legislature’s Joint Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse
gave two pieces of ABH’s priority legislation favorable reports late last week:
H1808, An Act Relative to Behavioral Health Access requires
EOHHS to put in place a program to benchmark and monitor access to
behavioral health services for MassHealth consumers in light of the
Beacon - Value Options merger.
H1809, An Act Relative to Medication Assisted Treatment for opi-
oid addiction requires MassHealth to cover the administration of all FDA approved drugs for the treat-
ment of opioid addiction at licensed methadone clinics.
ABH appreciates Chairwoman Jennifer Flanagan and Chairwoman Liz Malia for their strong support of these
important bills.
The bills are now awaiting further action by the Legislature. ABH will keep you updated as the bills move
through the Legislative process.
ABH Priority Legislation
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Fallon Total
Care
Transition
As you may know,
Fallon Total Care is
no longer
administering the
One Care Program
as of September
30.
A maximum of 500
members will
transfer to Tufts
Health Public Plans
(Network Health).
Other individuals
will revert to
MassHealth and
Medicare Fee For
Service with
Medicare Part D
prescription drug
coverage.
More information
about the
transition is
available here.
The Senate Special Committee on Opioid Addiction, Prevention, Treatment and Re-
covery, chaired by Senator Jennifer Flanagan, is charged with making
“recommendations to further strengthen opioid abuse prevention, intervention, treat-
ment and recovery options and access.” The Committee recently filed their legislative
recommendations and the Senate passed this legislation on October 1. The bill con-
tains recommendations relative to the following:
Training and Awareness of Good Samaritan Provisions
Drug Formulary List of Non-opiate Pain Management Products
Voluntary Non-opiate Directive
Expanded SBIRT Screening
Safeguards on High Risk Drugs
Patient Choice in Prescription Volume
Drug Stewardship
Individual Prescriber Trend Notifications
Access to Pain Management Specialty Consultation
Review of Coverage For Non-narcotic Pain Management
Transparency in Addiction Service Denial Rates
Civil Liability Protection for Narcan Administration
Gabapentin Monitoring
MassHealth Lock-In Program Correction
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Mandy Gilman at 508-647-
8385, x. 16 or at [email protected] .
Opioid Legislation
CEOs Against Stigma
ABH is working with NAMI Massachusetts on its CEOs Against Stigma campaign.
What is it, you ask? “CEOs Against Stigma is a campaign designed to reduce the nega-
tive impact of mental illness stigma in the workplace. Through CEO leadership, super-
visors, managers, and all employees will be encouraged to learn about mental illness,
and how silence is undermining workplace productivity. The campaign will show how
understanding, empathy and treatment can improve the wellbeing of employees and
increase productivity at the same time.” If you haven’t already done so, we urge you
to join many of your fellow ABH members and join this campaign. For more infor-
mation on this important campaign, click here.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Laurie Martinelli, Executive
Director at NAMI Massachusetts at [email protected] .
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ABH STAFF
Vicker V. DiGravio III President/CEO 508.647.8385, x11 [email protected]
Constance Peters Vice President for Addiction Services 508.647.8385, x13 [email protected]
Lydia Conley Vice President for Mental Health 508.647.8385, x 15 [email protected]
Mandy Gilman Senior Director of Public Policy & Research 508.647.8385, x16 [email protected]
Kristen Archibald Director of Children’s Behavioral Health and Member Services 508.647.8385, x14 [email protected]
Rosemary Santini Administrative Assistant 508.647.8385, x10 [email protected]
Ellen Caliendo Business Manager 508.380.9887 [email protected]
Keeper’s best dog friend, Murphy, is filling in for Keeper this month.
In Murphy’s in-box:
Healey Strikes Deal To Offset Cost Of Narcan For Mass.
Towns. WBUR.
Amid a Boom in Addiction Treatment, Will Big New Players Un-
derstand the Old Model Must Change? The National Council.
Police, Recovery Coaches Cruise Streets to Coax Addicts to
Detox. Cape Cod Times.
Our View: Reimbursement Continues to Hinder Mental Health
Services. South Coast Today.
Price Soars For Key Weapon Against Heroin Overdoses. NPR.
For Students With Mental Health Issues, Transition To College Is Complicated.
NPR.
The Center for Health Information and Analysis (CHIA) has released its 2015 Annual
Report on the Performance of the Massachusetts Health Care System. Additional data is
available on the CHIA website here.
Most notably, Massachusetts saw 4.8% growth in overall Total Health Care Expendi-
tures between 2013 and 2014, exceeding the Commonwealth’s health
care cost growth benchmark of 3.6% established in accordance with the state’s 2012
health care cost containment law. Total Health Care Expenditures accounted for $54
billion in spending—$8,010 per capita—by or on behalf of Massachusetts residents for
insured health care services.
Spending for MassHealth increased by $2.4 billion (+19%), while enrollment increased
by 23%. It is unclear how much of this increase is related to the failure of the Health
Connectors new ACA website last year.
In addition, some interesting media coverage of the report is available here and here.
Keeper’s Korner
Cost Trends Report
ABH is proud to partner with the Safe Homes Coalition to educate the public about
the importance of safe use, safe storage, and safe disposal of prescription medications
in the home. The Safe Homes Coalition Keep Kids Safe Greater Boston/Massachusetts
Program is made up of Massachusetts leaders, law enforcement, addiction and recov-
ery organizations, the healthcare community, and industry to tackle one of our Com-
monwealth’s most vexing problems. Through safe use, safe storage, and safe disposal,
we can make it a safer home and a safer community.
For more information about the Safe Homes Coalition, click here.
Safe Homes
Unlike Keeper,
Murphy loves to
swim.
