Healthcare Groups Call on DEA for Continued Access to Mental Health Treatment Through Telehealth
AlediumHR, the Alliance for Connected Care, and other healthcare organizations called on the Biden Administration to modify the DEA's proposed rule.
"The pandemic had an overwhelming impact on mental health, both from the provider and patient standpoint. It created new virtual behavioral health companies and the expansion of virtual health.”
TAMPA, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES, May 30, 2023/EINPresswire.com/ -- In a letter recently to Anne Milgram, Administrator of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, AlediumHR, in partnership with The Alliance for Connected Care and other leading healthcare organizations, called on the Biden Administration to make modifications to the DEA's proposed rule on Telemedicine Prescribing of Controlled Substances. — Mike Maffei
There is a pressing and legitimate national need for the virtual provision of mental health treatment. Connecting more Americans to mental health care is a key objective of President Biden's Mental Health Strategy, which seeks to address the forty percent of American adults who report symptoms of anxiety and depression and the thirty percent rise in the percentage of children and adolescents with anxiety and depression.
Unfortunately, the broader behavioral health workforce is stretched (more than half of U.S. counties do not have a psychiatrist), meaning that the goals of this plan are unlikely to be met without access to empowered virtual care. Importantly, the Administration's work to address mental health and substance use disorder are closely linked, as 65 percent of all patients with a substance use disorder or overdose diagnosis in 2021 had a preexisting mental health condition.
Americans continue to rely heavily on telehealth for access to treatment for these mental health conditions, representing 62.5 percent of all telehealth treatments in December 2022. Recognizing the ongoing national need for more behavioral health access, the undersigned organizations request that the DEA modify the proposed rule to ensure more flexible prescribing limitations for providers when a highly-trained clinician offers a controlled substance in conjunction with an ongoing mental health treatment plan.
"The pandemic had an overwhelming impact on mental health, both from the provider and patient standpoint. It created several new virtual behavioral health companies and the expansion of virtual health for others. This caused an urgent need for behavioral health counselors in all areas, so much so the market was stretched too thin. Nevertheless, it showed that patients wanted the availability to access virtual mental health providers, and this growth and need will continue, said Mike Maffei, Co-Founder & President of AlediumHR."
"The rural communities have been especially hit hard with the limited number of licensed counselors. Virtual mental care provides a way to access licensed practitioners readily available to assist, said Maffei."
To read the full letter and healthcare companies who signed, go to: https://connectwithcare.org/mental-health-groups-call-on-dea-for-continued-access-to-treatments-through-telehealth/
Mike R Maffei
AlediumHR
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