Becker’s Behavioral Health

Telehealth accounted for more than one-quarter of all outpatient mental health care among U.S. adults in 2021 to 2022, according to a Nov. 26 JAMA Psychiatry study. Researchers examined national trends by care modality, revealing notable differences by age, income,…

A coalition of 19 state attorneys general and two state governors filed a lawsuit Nov. 13, seeking to block changes to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s $3.9 billion Continuum of Care grant program, according to a Nov.…

The World Health Organization released a comprehensive report detailing its latest strategies to improve behavioral health worldwide. The document identifies urgent, system-level gaps, underscores the need for sustained investment in mental health services and calls on governments to embed behavioral…

Idaho plans to reduce pay rates for Medicaid mental health services by up to 15% beginning Dec. 2, a move providers say will destabilize care and increase pressure on jails and hospitals, according to a Nov. 25 report from KIFI…

Behavioral health faces a range of challenges — and top among them is access. Patients can linger on appointment waitlists for months or be caught in a referral backlog. During the limbo, patient conditions can worsen, driving them to seek…

Regence Blue Shield was fined $550,000 by Washington state regulators for failing to show its behavioral health coverage complies with mental health parity laws.  The Office of the Insurance Commissioner said Regence did not submit required documentation demonstrating that behavioral…

Nearly 70% of Medicaid enrollees diagnosed with an opioid use disorder did not receive appropriate medications — such as buprenorphine, methadone or naltrexone — within 180 days of diagnosis, according to a study published Nov. 23 in The American Journal…

Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Corewell Health has opened West Michigan’s first trauma recovery center, which will offer free mental health services to survivors of violent crime.  The center, located in the Corewell Health Community Medicine Clinic in Grand Rapids, provides mental…

The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health is investing up to $100 million to improve mental and behavioral healthcare through its Evidence-Based Validation and Innovation for Rapid Therapeutics in Behavioral Health (EVIDENT) initiative.  The initiative will focus on developing more…

New York City-based Montefiore Einstein has completed a 21-bed inpatient pediatric mental health center in the Bronx, scheduled to open to patients Dec. 15. The Montefiore Einstein Center for Children’s Mental Health of the Children’s Hospital will serve youths ages…