310342
Lessons learned by a state Medicaid agency after reimbursement of SBIRT for pregnant clients
Description. In response, the South Carolina Department of Health & Human Services, in partnership with other state agencies, implemented the Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) program, which provides tools and reimbursement to perform standardized screening and referrals to more than 30,000 pregnant women each your through Medicaid obstetric providers. By June, 2013, 46.81% of women of reproductive age had received an SBIRT screening, as compared to only 2.92% at the start of the Initiative (August, 2011). Of these, 41.14% received a screening, 10.38% a brief intervention, and 2.00% a referral.
Lessons Learned. (1) Requiring a physician to complete the universal screening tool, rather than other frontline providers, decreased completion rates. (2) Increasing efficacy by training obstetric providers on the core clinical components of SBIRT is important. (3) Following patients after they left the obstetric clinic to ensure follow-through with referral and treatment was challenging.
Recommendations. As reimbursement is a driving force in encouraging providers to screen pregnant women, allowing providers to bill for each component of SBIRT may encourage sustained treatment. With a relatively low investment by state agencies, the high costs associated with opioid abuse and other risk factors during pregnancy may be abated.
Learning Areas:
Administer health education strategies, interventions and programsAdministration, management, leadership
Provision of health care to the public
Public health administration or related administration
Learning Objectives:
Assess the effectiveness of a statewide program to reimburse for SBIRT for pregnant Medicaid recipients
Describe lesson learned from implementing an SBIRT Initiative to help identify and treat pregnant beneficiaries of Medicaid
Keyword(s): Drug Abuse Prevention and Safety, Drug Abuse Treatment
Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have directed community-based organizations, served as a consultant with programs addressing the needs of at-risk vulnerable populations, worked as an advocate for enhanced health care and educational services for individuals with disabilities, and performed as a university unit administrator. I am presently a standing member of the AHRQ, Health Services and Systems Research Review Panel a federal appointment authorized by the US HHS Secretary.
Any relevant financial relationships? No
I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.