Behavioral Health Practice Tools

Effective January 1, 2023, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), implemented the 2023 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS). The 2953 page rule includes updates to policies and payments that are applicable to clinical social workers (CSWs) and other Medicare providers. The following is a summary of the provisions and their implications for CSWs.

The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)  is seeking feedback from clinical social workers and other providers about how they should provide estimates for costs of services for patients who use their insurance to pay for health and mental health services.  Your feedback would be helpful in providing information to CMS who may create a proposed rule for preparing national standards in this area.

Many tobacco users indicate they started smoking at a very young age. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, 80 to 90 percent of adult smokers began smoking during adolescence and two-thirds became regular, daily smokers before they reached 19 years of age.

Binge drinking and heavy alcohol use during pregnancy have increased over the past decade, according to a new study in JAMA Network Open. In fact, from 2011 to 2020, binge drinking among pregnant women increased nearly 9 percent a year, while heavy drinking increased by more than 11 percent a year, study authors found. For women, binge drinking means four or more drinks on one occasion; heavy alcohol use is defined as eight or more drinks a week.

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) recently held a 2-day hybrid conference on Family-Focused Interventions to Prevent Substance Use Disorders (SUDs) in Adolescence. NASW participated in the conference where key comments were shared regarding the integration of care for substance use in primary care settings that offered health services to children and adolescents. Recommendations included, but were not limited to the following:

In July, many NASW members alerted their state chapters to a disturbing and potentially deceptive marketing practice impacting social workers nationwide