Becker’s Behavioral Health

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…

In 2024, Cigna’s Evernorth Behavioral Care Group launched to address rising behavioral health needs, beginning with virtual services in six markets and a network of 1,000 providers.  As of November, Evernorth has expanded to more than 5,000 providers across all…

Renton, Wash.-based Providence’s Well-Being Trust focused on expanding access to behavioral healthcare in 2025 through whole-person care, caregiver support programs and partnerships that served vulnerable populations, according to Arpan Waghray, MD, CEO of Providence’s Well Being Trust.  Here are five…

The National Alliance on Mental Illness is partnering with Boston-based Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center to evaluate how AI tools respond to mental health queries.  The effort is being led in partnership with John Torous, MD, and the Division of…

A digital platform that connects primary care patients to behavioral health services reduced hospital visits while increasing access to outpatient care, according to a new study published in the December issue of the American Journal of Managed Care. Researchers from…

Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., has reintroduced the Repealing the IMD Exclusion Act, a bill aimed at eliminating a federal Medicaid restriction on coverage for inpatient mental health and substance use disorder treatment.  The bill would repeal the Institutions for Mental…

Sierra Vista, Ariz.-based Canyon Vista Medical Center has implemented a new intake and assessment process for patients experiencing mental and behavioral health emergencies.  The redesign allows patients to bypass the traditional emergency department and go directly to an assessment within…

Olympia-based Washington State Health Care Authority and Washington State Department of Health have released a new resource library to help clinicians and emergency responders prescribe and administer medications for opioid use disorder.  The virtual toolkit comprises videos, printable guides, testimonials…

About a dozen states are experiencing a surge in emergency department visits related to a new combination of fentanyl and a sedative 100 to 200 times more potent than xylazine, The New York Times reported Dec. 15.  The dangerous drug…

A study analyzing Medicaid data from 2001 to 2019 found shifts in prescribing trends for controlled medications, with declines in opioids, benzodiazepines and Z-hypnotics, but rising stimulant and gabapentin use among young adults. The findings underscore both improved prescribing caution…