List date(s) this work was published or aired.
Publication date October 31, 2011. Electronically distributed to subscribers October 27.
Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
Substance abuse treatment providers, like all health care providers, need to have electronic health records in order to be paid by Medicaid or health insurance exchanges under health care reform in 2014. But substance abuse treatment providers have a special problem — they must comply with federal confidentiality regulations (42 CFR Part 2) that forbid giving information about patients treated for alcohol or drug abuse without the patient’s consent, which must follow a specific format and be in writing. For this story I interviewed the top federal official from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), which promulgates 42 CFR Part 2, as well as one of the biggest vendors, and to an official with the company that has a SAMHSA grant to help behavioral health (mental health and substance abuse) providers implement EHR. The federal official and the vendor both pointed out that there are still many unanswered questions about how substance abuse providers implementing EHR will be able to comply with 42 CFR Part 2. The federal official additionally outlined the pitfalls of buying the wrong program, noting that one state spent $6 million on the wrong one.
Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
Internet resources for SAMHSA, HIT, and 42 CFR Part 2 were used.
Explain types of human sources used.
Interview with H. Westley Clark, MD, JD, director of the federal Center for Substance Abuse Treatment; interview with Michael Lardiere, Ph.D. of the National Council, and interview with Kevin Scalia of Netsmart.
Results:
NA
Follow-up (if any). Have you run a correction or clarification on the report or has anyone come forward to challenge its accuracy? If so, please explain.
NA
Advice to other journalists planning a similar story or project.
Understand how a regulation affects a field, and how some elements within a field like id, some don’t, and some are neutral, and why.