Estimating the Investment Gap in Treating Serious Mental Illness in the United States.

Despite substantial enrollment of adults with serious mental illness in state Medicaid programs, public-sector funding remains inadequate to deliver comprehensive evidence-based mental health care. The authors of this Open Forum propose a rigorous empirical method for quantifying the investment gap between current resources and those required for achieving evidence-based care. Drawing from an analysis of California's county-based mental health system, the authors outline a four-step process that entails quantifying current mental health service utilization, defining evidence-based clinical standards, estimating unit costs, and scaling services to population needs.

Expansion of Telehealth Availability for Mental Health Care After State-Level Policy Changes From 2019 to 2022.

Importance: Although telehealth services expanded rapidly during the COVID-19 pandemic, the association between state policies and telehealth availability has been insufficiently characterized.

Objective: To investigate the associations between 4 state policies and telehealth availability at outpatient mental health treatment facilities throughout the US.

Design Setting And Participants: This cohort study measured whether mental health treatment facilities offered telehealth services each quarter from April 2019 through September 2022.

Availability of Medications for Opioid Use Disorder in Opioid Treatment Programs.

Importance: As the primary facilities authorized to dispense methadone, opioid treatment programs (OTPs) are a critical access point for medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD). However, research is limited on the extent to which OTPs offer a broad range of MOUD and on the characteristics of programs that provide more comprehensive medication offerings.

Objective: To assess the percentage of US OTPs offering all 3 forms of MOUD (methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone) and compare organizational and county characteristics of OTPs with different MOUD service offerings.

Telehealth Use for Mental Health Treatment Among US Adolescents.

Purpose: To examine telehealth use for mental health treatment in a 2022 national sample of adolescents.

Methods: We analyzed data on adolescents (ages 12-17) who received mental health treatment in the past 12 months (N = 3,708) from the 2022 National Survey of Drug Use and Health. Proportions of adolescents who used telehealth as part of their treatment were compared across treatment settings.

Challenges to and Solutions for Implementing Medications for Opioid Use Disorder in Community Mental Health Centers.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to identify implementation challenges to and solutions for integrating medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) into community mental health centers (CMHCs).

Methods: Between February and July 2024, 17 semistructured interviews were conducted with CMHC program leaders. Participants described the impetus for MOUD provision or reasons for not implementing MOUD, as well as key implementation challenges and strategies to address them.

Medications for opioid use disorder in traditional medicare beneficiaries: associations with age.

Rates of opioid use disorder (OUD) have increased in older adults (age ≥ 50). Medications for OUD (MOUD) treat OUD effectively; however, limited data exist on whether older adults with OUD are provided MOUD. Using 2016-2020 claims data from Medicare beneficiaries with a new episode of OUD, we calculated rates of MOUD initiation (first dispensing within 14 days of index event), engagement (dispensing of a second MOUD within 34 days of initiation), and retention (receiving MOUD consistently over 180 days).

Identifying and Characterizing Models of Substance Use Treatment in Outpatient Substance Use Treatment Facilities.

Objective: Given that individuals with substance use disorders (SUDs) have a variety of needs beyond substance use, it is crucial to examine the comprehensiveness of services offered within outpatient SUD treatment facilities, where many individuals with SUDs receive care. This study's objective is to develop clusters of services offered and assess organizational, policy, and environmental characteristics associated with having a more comprehensive treatment model.

Method: We conducted a principal component analysis (PCA) using data on SUD treatment facilities ( = 8,197) from the 2022 Mental Health and Addiction Treatment Tracking Repository, a national database of SUD treatment facilities.

Do Publicly Funded Neighborhood Investments Impact Individual-Level Health-Related Outcomes? A Longitudinal Study of Two Neighborhoods in Pittsburgh, PA from 2011 to 2018.

Research examining the relationship between a neighborhood's built-environment and resident health or health-related outcomes has largely either focused on static characteristics using a cross-sectional research design or focuses on the neighborhood in its entirety. Such an approach makes it difficult to understand how specific dynamic neighborhood characteristics are associated with individual well-being. In this analysis, we use longitudinal data from the Pittsburgh Research on Neighborhood Change and Health (PHRESH) studies to assess the relationship between publicly funded neighborhood investments occurring across seven years (2011-2018) on five health-related outcomes: food insecurity, stress, perceived neighborhood safety, neighborhood satisfaction, and dietary quality.

Trends in the availability of comprehensive services within outpatient substance use treatment facilities from 2018 to 2022.

Little is known regarding the extent to which substance use disorder (SUD) treatment facilities adopt comprehensive services to meet patients' medical and social needs. To examine trends in the availability of comprehensive services within outpatient SUD treatment facilities from 2018 to 2022. We used data from the Mental Health and Addiction Treatment Tracking Repository, a national database of SUD treatment facilities ( = 13,793).

Telehealth Availability for Mental Health Care During and After the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency.

Importance: Telehealth services expanded rapidly during the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE).

Objective: To evaluate changes in availability of telehealth services at outpatient mental health treatment facilities (MHTFs) throughout the US during and after the COVID-19 PHE.

Design, Setting, And Participants: In this cohort study, callers posing as prospective clients contacted a random sample of 1404 MHTFs drawn from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's Behavioral Health Treatment Locator from December 2022 to March 2023 (wave 1 [W1]; during PHE).

Geospatially clustered low COVID-19 vaccine rates among adolescents in socially vulnerable US counties.

COVID-19 vaccinations are widely available across the United States (U.S.), yet little is known about the spatial clustering of COVID-19 vaccinations.

Expansion of Telehealth Availability for Mental Health Care After State-Level Policy Changes From 2019 to 2022.

Importance: Although telehealth services expanded rapidly during the COVID-19 pandemic, the association between state policies and telehealth availability has been insufficiently characterized.

Objective: To investigate the associations between 4 state policies and telehealth availability at outpatient mental health treatment facilities throughout the US.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This cohort study measured whether mental health treatment facilities offered telehealth services each quarter from April 2019 through September 2022.

Geographical access to specialized behavioral health treatment programs for U.S. active duty service members and military families from military installations.

Active duty service members and their families have unique behavioral health care service needs. The purpose of this study is to determine geographical access to specialized behavioral health programs tailored to active duty U.S.

Trends in Methadone Dispensing for Opioid Use Disorder After Medicare Payment Policy Changes.

Importance: A significant proportion of Medicare beneficiaries have a diagnosed opioid use disorder (OUD). Methadone and buprenorphine are both effective medications for the treatment of OUD (MOUDs); however, Medicare did not cover methadone until 2020.

Objective: To examine trends in methadone and buprenorphine dispensing among Medicare Advantage (MA) enrollees after 2 policy changes in 2020 related to methadone access.

Psychiatric and Substance Use Disorder Bed Capacity, Need, and Shortage Estimates in California: Merced, San Joaquin, and Stanislaus Counties.

Psychiatric and substance use disorder (SUD) treatment beds are essential infrastructure for meeting the needs of individuals with behavioral health conditions. However, not all psychiatric and SUD beds are alike: They represent infrastructure within different types of facilities. For psychiatric beds, these vary from acute psychiatric hospitals to community residential facilities.