(Oct. 25, 2024) – Behavioral health continues to be a challenging issue for Kansas hospitals. Even with interventions such as an increase in state and federal investments in certified community behavioral health clinics, crisis intervention centers and the 988 program, hospitals find themselves holding behavioral health patients in their emergency departments waiting for state hospital beds. One positive movement in this area occurred two years ago when the Kansas Hospital Association was able to secure state funding for patients in hospitals awaiting state hospital beds through the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services. You can learn more about this funding on our website.
It is important to note that Kansas hospitals aren't facing behavioral health challenges in Kansas alone. Law enforcement, community mental health centers, addiction treatment centers and the Governor's Behavioral Health Service Planning Council are working to improve behavioral health services in Kansas. KHA's Behavioral Health Committee regularly convenes representatives of these groups to discuss challenges and find ways to collaborate on solutions. The committee met this week, and one of the state's two crisis intervention centers reported they are beginning to see a reduction in the number of persons in mental health crisis ending up in hospital emergency rooms or the custody of law enforcement. With the crisis intervention center regulations finalized in late 2023, we hope to see more reductions across the state.
KHA's Behavioral Health Committee also heard from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment on its pilot bio-surveillance initiative to collect data for use in developing prevention activities by the state and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The program would work with hospitals to submit urine specimens from ER patients with suspected drug overdoses to the Kansas Health and Environmental Laboratories to test for a broader range of substances than the hospital lab. The program would be free to hospitals, and hospitals would be compensated for staff time needed to participate. Interested hospitals can contact KDHE at kdhe.odprevention@ks.gov.
Last month, the final rules for the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act were published at the federal level. The Act was initially passed in 2008, with the first round of regulations finalized in 2013. The Act ensures individuals don't face more restrictive limitations or requirements when accessing behavioral health services than medical/surgical services. The new rules improve access to care by requiring insurers to perform and document comparative analysis of their coverage to ensure compliance with the Act. In addition, the final rules strengthen the definitions of mental health and substance abuse treatment, which helps eliminate loopholes in compliance for insurers. You can learn more about the final rule in detail here.
Kansas hospitals know much work is still needed to enhance the care and treatment for persons with behavioral health conditions, including those with substance use disorders. KHA will continue to work with our members and stakeholders across the state to improve behavioral health services in Kansas.
--Chad Austin