The behavioral health workforce needs more accessible and adequate data to inform valid workforce projections and address shortages. While a minimum data set (MDS) exists for the standardized collection of data at the individual level, data obtained at the organizational level is also important. This report discusses the process of using literature and key informant…
Social workers are flexible employees with a wide variety of skills that can be adapted to fit complex and highly integrated healthcare settings. Many integrated health teams have benefited from the involvement of social workers, but little research has been conducted that examines the roles that social workers perform in these settings. This report describes…
The use of telehealth has expanded considerably in the 21st century as new technologies have expanded the ways in which patients are able to receive care from their providers. Behavioral health has been no exception to this trend, yet state regulations and scopes of practice to regulate behavioral telehealth are often insufficient and lack uniformity….
The Affordable Care Act and the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act have increased demand for behavioral health workers and changed the way policy makers regulate behavioral health scope of practice (SOP) to benefit patient care. Expansion of occupational SOPs is a potential solution for addressing the demand for increased diversity of services. This…
As the number of behavioral health professionals increases to meet the increasing demand, professional competency statements are important for organizations to ensure that their behavioral health professionals are able to meet a wide variety of support needs. However, these competency statements are not standardized across organizations and their content has not been comprehensively studied. This…
Studies show that a diverse health workforce is important for ensuring patient satisfaction and meeting the needs of underserved populations. However, white providers continue to be overrepresented in the behavioral health workforce compared to the populations they serve. Developing a diverse behavioral health workforce can be challenging due to recruitment and retention issues as well…
Paraprofessionals and other behavioral health technicians have been increasingly recognized for their key role in mitigating provider shortages and increasing behavioral health care access to underserved youth and minority populations. Therefore, it is important to understand the procedures, processes, and services these providers are authorized to provide, as outlined by a scope of practice (SOP)….
A behavioral health workforce Minimum Data Set (MDS) was developed through a collaborative process with the Behavioral Health Workforce Research Center (BHWRC) research team and partner Consortium. An MDS instrument with 5 main themes was constructed to include numerous data elements to describe workforce size, composition, and characteristics of the behavioral health workforce, which was…
The provision of care for rural and geographically isolated, vulnerable populations presents substantial challenges for the behavioral health workforce related to its supply and retention of clinicians. This issue is a barrier to providing accessible services to those most in need. This policy brief assesses behavioral health workforce supply and need, barriers to recruiting and…
Balancing the disequilibrium between the demand for mental health and substance use disorder services and the supply of qualified behavioral health professionals compels an examination of the billing and reimbursement practices and payer policies impacting behavioral health service access. One strategy to enhance workforce capacity is to ensure that behavioral health professionals can receive reimbursement…
