The demand for behavioral health services has never been greater than it is in 2023. Broad focus on mental wellness and pandemic-driven trauma have increased demand for lower acuity care, while significant spikes in overdoses and suicides have increased demand for higher acuity care, including inpatient treatment. Dramatic increases in government funding and policies to expand access have run up against an overburdened and fragmented behavioral health delivery system and a shortage of clinicians, creating an urgent need for innovative workforce and technology solutions that better integrate behavioral, physical, and public health systems.
HMA’s 6th annual conference, “Innovations in Publicly Sponsored Healthcare: How Medicaid, Medicare, and Marketplaces Are Driving Value, Equity, and Growth” is putting a special focus on behavioral health through a half-day pre-conference workshop as well as topics throughout the regular conference sessions that highlight how these services and programs are becoming more integrated.
Pre-Conference Workshop
Join us on Sunday, October 29th at the Fairmont Chicago, Millennium Park for a deep dive into how behavioral health sits at the intersection of health care and the social services that are critical to achieving positive health outcomes:
- An opening panel on behavioral health system redesign and how states are leveraging new policies, waivers, and funding streams to improve access to services. This panel will feature Monica Johnson from SAMHSA and leaders from Massachusetts, Iowa, and New York.
- A panel on complex populations and how states are connecting these patients to address health related social needs that can impede progress. This panel will feature examples from Ohio, Wisconsin, New York, and California.
- The preconference will feature two World Café style discussions where participants break into groups to explore new solutions around the behavioral health workforce and how states are redesigning systems to improve network adequacy.
More Insights and Expertise
In addition, our main conference will feature a session on crisis system development and sustainability, looking at how states are creating and funding crisis systems to reduce disparities in access to behavioral health services, featuring case studies on newly implemented 988 hotlines, mobile crisis units, and other innovations in crisis stabilization.
We are looking forward to hearing from panelists about the important work they are doing to bring forward new solutions, new collaborations, and new uses of federal funds to better serve the behavioral health needs in our communities across America. We’ll create a follow up blog on the learnings and insights shared in both sessions.
To learn more about HMA’s efforts to support behavioral health, contact Gina Lasky or Gina Eckhart, managing directors of HMA’s behavioral health team, and be sure to register by July 31 to get the early bird rate. For additional insights, join the conversation with #HMACon2023.