Becker’s Behavioral Health

A record 91% of eighth grade students and 82% of 10th grade students reported no use of alcohol, cannabis or nicotine in the past 30 days, according to a study conducted by the Ann Arbor-based University of Michigan Institute for…

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois is sponsoring a new housing initiative from Chicago-based LifeHouse Group to help Medicaid members with substance use disorder transition to independent living.  The project  will create four-bedroom housing units in Dixmoor, Ill., for individuals…

Ewa Beach, Hawaii-based The Queen’s Medical Center—Kahi Mohala has named Sondra Brandon, APRN, as COO.  Ms. Brandon will continue to serve as vice president of behavioral health and medicine clinical programs for The Queen’s Health System, according to a Dec.…

West Orange, N.J.-based RWJBarnabas Health and Langhorne, Pa.-based Woods System of Care have opened an integrated clinic in Hamilton, N.J., focused on individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and autism.  The Woods Primary and Behavioral Health Center is the first…

Only 47% of mothers with a diagnosed opioid use disorder were prescribed medications such as methadone or buprenorphine, despite clinical guidelines recommending them, according to a  University of Michigan study. Researchers assessed delivery-related outcomes and healthcare use among Michigan Medicaid…

A study led by researchers at Tucson-based University of Arizona found that 62% of participants did not interpret a widely used mental health screening tool consistently, raising concerns about the reliability of data it produces. The study was published Dec.…

Sens. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., and Jim Justice, R-W.Va., introduced bipartisan legislation to remove prior authorization requirements for medication-assisted treatment under Medicaid.  The proposed No Red Tape for Addiction Treatment Act would require all state Medicaid programs to cover at least…

Chesterfield, Mo.-based Mercy has spent the past five years scaling a collaborative care management model across roughly 300 clinics in four states. Its goal has been to integrate behavioral health into routine medical care while working through payer adoption, technology…

Advanced monthly payments from the 2021 Child Tax Credit expansion were associated with short-term improvements in child behavioral health, but those gains disappeared after the payments ended, according to a Dec. 10 study published in The Milbank Quarterly.  Congress established…

Sumter, S.C.-based Prisma Health Tuomey Hospital is set to open a $9.1 million, 16-bed Behavioral Health Emergency Care Unit Jan. 5, providing around-the-clock stabilization and support services.   The unit will serve patients experiencing behavioral health or substance use crises, with…