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January 4, 2022

Industry Outlook for 2022

The behavioral health market continues to face challenges, such as rising health care costs, pandemic socio-economic implications, and labor force attrition. But there is light at the end of the tunnel. Virtual care provides access to millions of people in need, and facilities with the right technological support are able to offer more equity, better quality, and increased value to their recovery programs.

Behavioral Health Market Growth

The critical importance of behavioral health is often downplayed because treatment is not as straightforward as other physical health conditions for which we have medicinal treatments. Treating depression or substance abuse requires psychological intervention, whereas diabetes does not. This is why the industry has historically faced greater challenges in funding, research, and authorization. 

Over the past couple of years, however, we’ve seen a drastic increase in awareness as the need for intervention has grown. The ongoing plight of the pandemic and emerging variants of COVID-19 continue to cause massive challenges for treatment centers. Increased stress levels, the trauma of illness and isolation, economic uncertainty, and greater instability in people’s lives have all contributed to the overdose crisis we face. The essential care provided by treatment centers for those seeking addiction recovery is more critical than ever.

The rise in public acceptance of mental health treatment is making behavioral health care more accessible, thus increasing the market size. Experts estimate the behavioral health market will be worth approximately $240 billion by 2026. This fact attracts many operators to the space, but only those who adapt amid all the current challenges will make a real difference, providing quality care and support to those they serve.

Trends in Behavioral Health

While technology enables care providers to reach more people virtually, those integrating in-person care with remote support are having the most successful outcomes. In a post-pandemic future, the need to support workforce health, wellbeing, and safety will be a priority. Online resources, remote access, cloud-based documentation, and digital therapy, can bridge access gaps.

One of the best digital tools to help behavioral health management is an industry-specific electronic medical record (EMR) system. EMRs help to improve communication between patients and healthcare providers, increasing the efficacy and productivity of treatment centers. Alleva’s EMR is user-friendly and state of the art. With telehealth options through video conferencing, communication and scheduling are effortless. The Alleva EMR offers key features for compliance and documentation. Providers using efficient tools–such as medication management and reporting for business intelligence, producing data in easy-to-read formats–will discover they have more time available to spend with the people in their care.

The Alleva App also increases productivity by helping centers engage with clients, update assignments, send reminders and telehealth invites, even daily questionnaires, directly to clients’ phones. At a time when people are social distancing, this feature creates connection and improves communication. 

Maximize Productivity in 2022 

The behavioral health industry is growing thanks to an increased acceptance of mental health treatment. Digital EMR solutions like Alleva are perfectly poised to improve the industry for both patients and clinicians. Alleva is here to help behavioral health facilities reach all of their performance goals in 2022.

If you’d like to learn more, schedule a demo for Alleva and see how we help the helpers. 

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March 3, 2021

How EMRs Improve Client Care

Electronic medical records, or EMRs, can help you transform your practice from a stagnant business into a fast-paced and efficient facility without sacrificing care. Through the elimination of paperwork, you’ll say goodbye to mistakes and busy work and say hello to optimization and high-quality care.

Read more

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August 4, 2020

Lost Connections in a Digital World

Even before the spread of COVID-19 forced millions of people around the world to isolate, the decline of human contact in our digital world was taking a toll. In the great debate about the merits and difficulties of a world dependent on technology, the jury is still out. 

In some ways, we may fault technology for our culture’s rampant obsession with status, or the resulting depression and even addiction in the younger generations. In other ways, we praise it for making our lives easier, for making information available to the masses, and for its ability to connect us with others across the globe.  

While we may agree with the risks of allowing technology such a vital place in our lives, we have all, in some way or another, cosigned the idea that through technology, we can improve how we communicate and connect with each other. Some technology, like video conferencing, brings people together and breaks through the barriers of isolation.

The Need for Human Connection

Since the dawn of humanity, we have needed connection with others of our kind, just as much as we needed food, water, or shelter. This is because, in many ways, banding together was our ticket to successfully meeting all other needs. As evidenced by early cave drawings all the way to today’s obsession with social media, we’ve long felt convinced of our need to communicate important messages, share about dangers on the horizon and even to celebrate successes with one another. Although the medium has changed over time, the fundamental service that these platforms appear to provide remains the same.

In the years since those early attempts at human connection, our society was on a path towards individualism, and as a whole becoming lonelier and more and more isolated from one another. Tricked time and time again by a consumerist mindset that told us that we are always “only 3 easy payments of $19.99” away from happiness, we’ve continually failed to learn our lesson. With the advent of the internet, we fared no better. 

In his poignant discussion of the root causes of depression, Johann Hari points out that we are drawn to these manufactured forms of connection because at first, we believe that they are the real thing.  However, no matter the number of emoji’s, gifs, or iMessages sent with special effects, communication online fails to measure up to the real thing, and only leaves us clamoring for our next ‘fix’. 

“Only through our connectedness to others can we really know and enhance the self. And only through working on the self can we begin to enhance our connectedness to others.” ― Harriet Lerner

What Does This Mean for Clinicians?

Recent research reveals that the average person checks their phone 96 times per day or roughly every 10 minutes, and spend nearly half their day listening to, watching, reading, or otherwise consuming media. The Behavioral Health Industry is not immune to these societal changes.  Although the therapy room may be one of the last frontiers where two individuals connect with one another for an extended length of time, uninterrupted, the battle for such a structure and even mandates for concurrent documentation appears to threaten this practice. 

In some ways, clinicians are expected to provide a remedy for this lack of human connection, as well as a model for the path forward. It is crucial to this task to consider both the role of technology in both fostering and hindering human connection, and to discover the balance between consuming the content available to us and engaging with the people in front of us. 

True, because of technology, we are aided in our ability to get tasks done more quickly and connect with others across the globe, but we must not neglect our connection to the natural world. For many reasons, this is why wilderness therapy has been so successful, in that it helps you retain your connection with the world around you. 

Partnering with Alleva

At this time in history, we are navigating two worlds: the physical and the virtual. It is altogether vital to remember which one fosters true, fulfilling, human connection, and that which is only masquerading as such.  Technology is important, but only when we remember its true purpose, to aid the lives of those behind the screen. 

At Alleva, we are all about harnessing technology that helps you get back to what you do best- providing authentic, in-the-moment care. From our intuitive design and easy-to-use templates, with HIPAA-compliant communication logs, and tasks and notifications all in one place, spend less time stressing out over the tediousness of record management and invest your time instead back to the clients who have sought you out for treatment. 

Quickly access and edit client notes, create individualized treatment plans based on Wiley Treatment Planners best practices, and assign the corresponding homework. With Alleva, you are able to deliver the same high-quality, individualized treatment that your clients have come to expect. Have your technology work for you, not the other way around. Less headache, more connection. 

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February 14, 2019

How to Choose a Behavioral Health EHR: 10 Things You Need to Consider

1. Identify your goals

It is so important to understand your business goals when looking for a behavioral health EHR. What are your overarching goals for your business and where are you going?  Are you trying to cut costs, grow revenue, expand locations, beds, occupancy or census? Are you trying to better retain staff? Do you have clinical goals that require better oversight or more time to accomplish - more efficiency, or better connection with patients? Identifying your goals, whatever they may be, is hypercritical to knowing what you want.  Pain is just as important which is the next step.

2. Identify your need: Why do you need a behavioral health EHR?

 It is critical to understand your motivations for needing a behavioral health EHR.  What is your challenge with your current software? What are general pains with your business?  Are you losing insurance dollars because of audits or record requests with missing documentation?  Are you struggling with licensing or other concerns? Is there a lack of oversight because you are on paper or a weak system with little reporting or business intelligence tools to get what you need? Is there a department that is inefficient?  Are you on a system but certain aspects of your business are still being done on paper?

3. Evaluate your current Process: What's working today that you wouldn't want to lose?

Is there anything your current vendor is doing right that you would be loath to lose? It is important to establish what is working and make sure you are not taking one step forward and two steps backward.

4. Assign priority

Try to list your pains with your current behavioral health EHR in order of biggest to least. Also, list the things you want to keep in order of importance. This will help you identify the best fitting EHR by how much value it will give you.

5. The Net

Your mental health EHR search needs to be done thoroughly.  Make sure you gather a minimum of two EHR providers to go through. Having three or four would be ideal.  Do an initial demo with each, keeping the demos to 30 minutes or less to narrow down to your top one or two.  

6. Due diligence: Getting References on the Behavioral Health EHR Provider

Make sure you speak to references.  This is an important step many people miss when selecting a behavioral health EHR.  Whether they blindly sign up with a company or whether they discount that company because another competing company discouraged them from continuing to talk with them, make sure you do your due diligence and speak with people that are actually using the software every single day. You should also check their reviews on sites like Capterra and G2Crowd. Look at how many reviews they have and if the majority are good or bad.

7. The Behavioral Health EHR Demo

 Make sure you have in mind some key areas you are looking to improve and have those outlined before the demo to help the presenter know what to focus on.  Your time is precious and it should be focused on the things that will bring you maximum value and enable you to maximize your results with your new software.  This will also help your behavioral health software provider to know the important things they need to be working on and where their customers are looking for help.

8. Your Current Contract

Some contracts have notice clauses that require one to give a certain amount of notice before you may cancel.  This is important to know when thinking about your timeline to transition. Timing your notice with your implementation is key so that you are not paying for two systems longer than you need to.  If your clause is 60 days or less, there isn’t much to worry about. Your new provider can advise you on when the best time will be to give notice. If it is longer than 60 days, you may want to consider giving notice even before you select a new partner.

9. A Good Fit

The partner you choose needs to be a good fit technically, but what about culturally?  Some partners might be more online-tutorial based, some may be support-center based, and others may be account management based.  It’s important to identify what is important to you and what is included. Also, where is the company headed? Most software today is cloud-based and delivered as a service (SAAS). What does their roadmap look like for the next year? How often do they do releases into their product? How are those communicated? How many engineers do they have on their team? Are they full time or part time contractors? Are they based in the US or overseas? This is important to know based on your past experience and deciding on the right fit for your business.

10. Cost vs. Value: What's the value of each option?

 Listing the choices in order, regardless of price, is a great way to help yourself determine what you really want.  Next, you'll want to assign a price to each option. If the price of the first one is worth the value it brings, then your decision was just made for you.  If there is a discrepancy, then you need to think a little harder. One suggestion that is worth trying is calling that number one option and telling them they are the number one option but that their price seems to still be a barrier.  Maybe they can be flexible. Sometimes they can and other times they can’t. It will depend on the situation. If option one cannot make it work, repeating these steps for option two and so forth will help you get the best possible solution for your needs and budget.

Choose a Behavioral Health EHR that best fits your needs

When you're looking for a behavioral health EHR, you should first identify your goals and needs. It doesn't matter how great a mental health EHR software is if it doesn't do what you need it to. Once you've established this, look at your current process and find an EHR that keeps what's currently working for you.

Next, assign priority to the pains and items you want to keep in order of importance. Then make a list of potential EHR vendors and get references on them. The best way to conduct an EHR search is to make it thorough. Then, get a demo! Most, if not all, EHR vendors provide a free demo. If they don't, you probably shouldn't consider that vendor. You can schedule a no-hassel demo with us here.

Check your current contract to ensure it doesn't have any clauses preventing you from leaving without sufficient notice. If you're able to leave your current contract, don't do so until you know the new vendor is a good fit technically and culturally. If it is going to save you time and give you peace of mind, it will be worth the switch.

May 31, 2017

Technology that puts Recovery in the Palm of Your Hand

Software Recovery Apps

Addicts were once thought of as being, in the words of Red Hot Chili Peppers' lead vocalist Anthony Kiedis, "Under the Bridge." However, the recent opioid epidemic and the search for recovery has changed all of that.

Jamison Monroe Jr., founder of the Newport Academy rehab center, said that the recent epidemic has changed this stereotype.  She asserted that addiction no longer "discriminate[s] based on demographics, […]income brackets or zip code[s]."

To help combat this new epidemic, some people have turned to technology-- specifically the kind that you hold in your hand. Recovering addict Sam Frons, creator of Addicaid, believes the support system of her app may be a game changer. Addicaid puts individuals into groups based on their shared tendencies, rather than their addictions. It also creates a personalized recovery program formulated by the information users give during their initial intake, accounting for their personality and triggers.

The app combines machine learning, adaptive artificial intelligence, and clinical research to predict situations where users might be at risk of relapse, and then it intervenes. The support system enables users with shared tendencies to reach out during those "trigger moments."

If you'd like to learn more about our addiction recovery software, you can click here to get a free demo or fill out the form below. 

May 17, 2017

IBM Watson- Relapse Reduction

IBM Watson recently joined forces with MAP Health Management to fight substance abuse in the U.S. The partnership will focus on relapse reduction.

Over 22.5 million Americans are caught in the snare of addiction, and of those, only 2.6 million are receiving treatment. The National Institute on Drug Abuse reported that the economic cost of substance abuse--related to crime, lost work productivity and health care--is near $700 billion. In 2015, opioid abuse claimed more American lives than car crashes and gun homicides combined.

Jacob Levenson, CEO of MAP, described addiction as the "great crisis of our time." He reported that the current method of "assessing, treating and paying for … care isn't sustainable." He believes that using "advanced cognitive technology" like Watson, will improve treatment decisions, leading to improved long-term management for those suffering.

Aetna Behavioral Health is planning to use MAP's system to predict substance abuse relapses. The goal is to gather and analyze patient data in order to create long-term strategies to help patients reach and stay in recovery through relapse reduction.

Read here to learn more about technology in addiction recovery.

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Copyright 2019 - Alleva Corp. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright 2019 - Alleva Corp. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright 2019 - Alleva Corp. All Rights Reserved.