HIT Funding and LCSWs

The implementation of electronic Health Information Technology, required by the Affordable Care Act by 2014, represents a major change to the way that most LCSWs conduct their practices today.  The cost of this technology is estimated to be $44,000 per provider (Office of the National Coordinator, 2010).  For physicians and hospitals, this cost will be covered by $2.7 billion which was built into the HITECH Act of 2009.

LCSWs and other mental health clinicians were not included as eligible for these funds, though we are expected to comply with HITECH requirements to receive Medicare payments (and most likely payment from all insurers).  S. 539, the Behavioral Health IT Act, will make these funds available to mental health clinicians as well.

Our colleagues at the National Council for Community Behavioral Health Care have provided a link to all Senators.  Go to http://capwiz.com/thenationalcouncil/issues/alert/?alertid=51563516&queueid=[capwiz:queue_id]  and please send the following message to your Senators as soon as possible:

I am a member of the Clinical Social Work Association and a constituent.  Please become a cosponsor of S. 539, the Behavioral Health IT Act, to give mental health clinicians the ability to become part of the integrated healthcare systems. The Behavioral Health IT Act provides the crucial funding needed to support the adoption and meaningful use of EHRs in the behavioral health field and serve some of our most vulnerable citizens.

This legislation provides crucial support to community providers like me by ensuring that behavioral and mental health professionals, psychiatric hospitals, mental health treatment facilities, and substance abuse treatment facilities will be eligible for the electronic health record (EHR) incentive payments established under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Individuals with mental health and substance use conditions are in dire need of more coordinated, integrated healthcare. A series of recent studies have shown that persons with serious mental illnesses who are clients of the public mental health system die sooner than other Americans, due to other health conditions like diabetes and heart disease, which are not adequately treated or managed.  Greater use of EHRs has tremendous potential to change those outcomes by improving care coordination and overall quality of care – yet this cannot be accomplished without fully incorporating addiction and mental health services.

The Behavioral Health IT Act provides the crucial funding needed to support the adoption and meaningful use of EHRs in the community behavioral health field. Please sign on as a cosponsor to the Behavioral Health IT Act of 2011!

Thank you for your attention to this important issue.