We would like to congratulate Bill Bly, Clinical Supervisor Horizon Village, and winner of SMART’s ASAP Conference gift give-away. SMART would like to thank everyone who participated. We look forward to seeing you at ASAP 2016.
About Horizon Village
Horizon Health Services is a not-for-profit corporation that provides an array of comprehensive services to assist individuals with mental health and/or substance abuse issues to make choices that improve their quality of life and achieve their personal recovery goals by providing:
Fully integrated behavioral health treatment and recovery services in community-based settings
Commitment to progressive, innovative and evidence-based practices
Services with a focus on the individual and family
The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA) was enacted to help protect mental health and substance use treatment patients from insurance companies charging them more than those suffering from physical illnesses.(1) Unfortunately, there have been some disparities, as NPR pointed out in a recent news broadcast.(2)
Despite the fact that US law has made it mandatory for the majority of insurance companies health plans to treat mental health patients the same way that they would treat anyone affected by physical illnesses, many contest that there is still a great deal of discrimination. While, insurance companies have complied with portions of the law, they are still found to be more strict in their treatment toward substance abuse and mental health patients. Under law, deductibles and co-pay charges are no longer higher for these mental health conditions, however insurance companies appear to be making up for the loss by applying other “cost-control” techniques. Critics are calling out insurance companies for being more rigid when determining if an individuals treatment should be deemed ‘medically necessary’.(2) When speaking about her experience as a patient advocate who also runs the Parity Implementation Coalition, Carol McDaid said, “They [patients] end up with this perception that they have access to care, but when they’re in a crisis for themselves or their loved one, lo and behold, the care’s not available because of these cost-control techniques.”
Risk management through medical documentation was an important topic addressed and presented via a mock trial at the 2015 AATOD conference. As treatment providers, you are responsible for taking the appropriate measures to ensure that patient documentation is accurate and thorough. Consistent documentation not only ensures that important patient progress is recorded, but it is also key to protecting your clinic from legal retaliation should a patient experience an unfortunate event while enrolled in your Medication Assisted Treatment program.
Addiction Treatment Forum (ATForum) recently published an article outlining the specific protocol that should be followed for every patient and emphasizing the tasks that should be tailored to patients in specific circumstances. “The problem wasn’t necessarily that the counseling wasn’t done. The problem was that it wasn’t documented.”(1) Read the full article.
About ATForum
Reports on substance abuse and addiction therapies, research, news, and events of interest to both healthcare professionals and patients with a focus on methadone maintenance (MM) treatment for opioid addiction. AT Forum is made possible by an unrestricted educational grant from Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals, St. Louis, MO, a manufacturer of opiate and alcohol addiction products. (2)
Are you an addiction treatment professional in New York State? Join us at the ASAP 16th Annual Conference (Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Providers of New York State Association) at the Saratoga Hilton and City Center, Saratoga Springs, NY.
ASAP is an excellent resource for organizations, groups and individuals that prevent and alleviate the profound personal, social and economic consequences of alcoholism and substance abuse. SMART proudly serves several prominent New York customers including Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Acacia, Greenwich House, and Staten Island University Hospital. Working closely as partners, SMART has refined our EHR Software to meet the unique needs of each multi-modality New York Treatment Organization.
SMART Software is a leader in the state of New York, providing a Paperless Electronic Health Record and Clinic Management Software to organizations providing Behavioral Health, Substance Abuse, and Mental Health Treatment Services. Our customized New York Software model allows your team to be efficient when processing and implementing NY billing and clinical documentation requirements.
Our team is looking forward to meeting you at the 2015 Utah Fall Substance Abuse Conference on September 23rd-25th at the Dixie Convention Center in St. George, Utah.
SMART Software is a leader in supplying Certified Paperless Electronic Health Record and Clinic Management Software to organizations providing Behavioral Health, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Treatment Services. Our state-by-state customized software model allows your team to be efficient when processing and implementing billing and clinical documentation requirements.
Stop by our booth, take a tour of SMART and see why many leading treatment providers have chosen our software for all of their EHR needs.
SMART has proudly served Utah customer Discovery House – The Center for Recovery and Hope for more than 18 years. Working closely as partners, SMART has refined our EHR Software to meet the needs of this unique multi-modality Utah Treatment Organization. Our customized Utah State model allows your team to be efficient when processing and implementing billing and clinical documentation requirements
About Utah Fall Substance Use Conference
The Utah Fall Substance Abuse Conference continues to be the premier educational and networking event in the Mountain West. Network with your colleagues, as you learn from preeminent national and local leaders in the Substance Abuse field. Learn more….
Keynote speaker and world renowned guitarist of Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Ricky Byrd
This was our first year as an exhibitor at the National Conference on Addiction Disorders ( NCAD ). We would like to thank the Vendome Group for welcoming us to the 4-day event at Union Station Hotel in St. Louis. With 900 addiction treatment professionals in attendance at NCAD, this was an excellent opportunity for SMART to meet many professionals directly involved in the critical task of providing patient care. Learning about the needs of midwestern treatment facilities afforded us the opportunity to demonstrate and prove the compatibility and efficacy of SMART’s Software.
Aside from sharing our enjoyable time with the attendees, we also want to highlight the conference proceedings. There was an excellent panel of speakers with diverse backgrounds and experience. As an exhibitor we often miss attending the sessions but we heard many great comments about the keynote speaker, Ricky Byrd, a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee and world renowned guitarist of Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. Not only was he the keynote speaker for the conference, but he also thrilled attendees by performing “Broken is a Place I’ve Already Been.”
He later stopped by the SMART booth, met our staff and indulged us with a few fun photos!
With the serious topic of addiction disorders on our minds, Homerun Henry (a.k.a Doug Edwards, Vice-President and Managing Director of the Vendome Group) helped to keep spirits light by sporting a St. Louis inspired classic style baseball uniform and posed with attendees including the grand-prize winner of the Fiat 500 give away. We were happily surprised when we were awarded third-place for Homerun Henry’s Most Exemplary Attendee Handout Awards…in short everyone really loved our SMART coffee mugs!
Elizabeth Lenzy, M.A. LPCC-S, Executive Director of The Lenzy Family Institute
We would also like to congratulate our Samsung Galaxy Tab S gift pack winner Elizabeth Lenzy, M.A. LPCC-S, Executive Director of The Lenzy Family Institute. The Lenzy Family Institute is a federally-qualified health organization providing integrated physical and behavioral health services. They work to promote abstinence and mental wellness for people affected by behavioral health disorders by providing substance abuse prevention, treatment, and recovery support services.
About NCAD
The National Conference on Addiction Disorders ( NCAD ), along with Behavioral Healthcare Executive Summit, has rapidly established itself as a premier, respected, and trusted national conference that provides a diverse educational curriculum on the prevention, intervention, treatment, and recovery management of addictions that affect various genders, generations, and cultures.
Rhode Island Substance Abuse Treatment Icon CODAC upgrades to SMART Software Version 3.2 at all 5 locations.
CODAC started using the first CMS version of SMART in 1998. March 2012, they began updating to the newest version of SMART in all 5 of their locations. SMART’s relationship with CODAC has spanned 20 years. It is rewarding to have them upgrade to the latest version of SMART and see them benefit from all the features. they has been a RI substance abuse and behavioral health cornerstone providing a myriad of outpatient recovery, treatment and prevention services to those struggling with the challenges of substance abuse, behavioral healthcare issues since 1971.
We would like to congratulate Bill Bly, Clinical Supervisor Horizon Village, and winner of SMART’s ASAP Conference gift give-away. SMART would like to thank everyone who participated. We look forward to seeing you at ASAP 2016.
Rhode Island Substance Abuse Treatment Icon CODAC upgrades to SMART Software Version 3.2 at all 5 locations.