Becker’s Behavioral Health

HHS has appointed 19 new members to its Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee. The appointments reflect HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s focus on aligning national autism policy with what he described as “gold-standard science,” according to a Jan. 28 news…

Mobile, Ala.-based AltaPointe Health added two mobile crisis vans to expand access to urgent mental healthcare.  The vehicles will enable trained clinicians — including therapists, nurses and case managers — to respond directly to people experiencing behavioral health emergencies in…

NYC Health + Hospitals/Kings County in New York City has launched Kings CARES, a program designed to provide coordinated, trauma-informed follow-up care for survivors of domestic and gender-based violence. The program builds on the hospital’s sexual assault response team by…

Health systems nationwide are rapidly adopting AI in healthcare, with behavioral health seeing results such as reducing clinician burnout and creating tools for caregiver emotional support.  Arjun Nagendran, PhD, and Scott Compton, PhD, researchers at Chicago-based Ann & Robert H.…

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders — widely regarded as the foundational text for mental health diagnosis — is set for a significant overhaul, NPR reported Jan. 28. The American Psychiatric Association outlined its vision for the next…

The California Department of Public Health has delayed implementation of emergency staffing regulations for psychiatric hospitals, originally slated for Jan. 31, following pushback from the public and hospitals, according to a Jan. 26 letter summary.  The department now expects to…

SonderMind, a national behavioral health organization with a network of more than 13,000 providers across all 50 states, has increased its capacity to process referrals while reducing administrative costs by automating intake and care coordination workflows. The organization works with…

The behavioral health department of the County of San Luis Obispo (Calif.) Health Agency received a $21.6 million grant through California’s Behavioral Health Continuum Infrastructure Program, supported by the Proposition 1 bond. The funds will be used to purchase and…

New York City-based NYC Health + Hospitals has launched simulation training for emergency department providers to improve care for patients with opioid use disorder.  The three-hour training, conducted at four sites, including the system’s Simulation Center, has reached more than…

At least five people in the U.S. died while or shortly after their heads were covered with spit hoods while under medical supervision by state-run psychiatric facilities, The Seattle Times reported Jan. 25.  The Times surveryed all 50 states to…