Mainebiz

V O L . X X I I N O. X X I S E P T E M B E R 1 9 , 2 0 1 6 22 H E A LT H C A R E & W E L L N E S S F O C U S 'Treating the whole person' On the legal front, Merz says Maine lawmakers enacted in the 127 th Legislature one of the nation's most progressive opioid prescription laws. It limits opioid dosages and estab- lishes how long prescribed doses can be used for treatment of acute (seven days) and chronic pain (30 days), with some exceptions being allowed in hospitals, long-term care and residen- tial care facilities for cancer, palliative, end-of-life and hospice care and treat- ment of substance abuse disorders. e new regulations take eff ect on Jan. 1, 2017. e Maine Opiate Collaborative, a coalition of law enforcement, health care providers and other stakehold- ers, issued fi nal recommendations in May that place a high premium on collaboration, public education and improving access to community-based programs for treatment of substance abuse disorders, which often co-occur with various mental illnesses. Merz says MaineHealth and MBH are in a good position to meet those pro-active goals. "We were early adopters of this strategy of putting behavioral health leaders and clinical staff in primary care settings," he says. "We're at more than 90% penetration and the goal is that every practice will have a behavioral health provider. at will signifi cantly improve the quality of care that's deliv- ered to people who actually have behav- ioral health needs. By bringing those together, we will signifi cantly save costs for the overall health care system." Removing barriers Even so, Merz acknowledges that signifi cant barriers remain. e state's failure to expand Medicaid coverage under the Aff ordable Care Act, he says, puts an estimated 70,000 Maine people into a health insurance coverage gap because their income is too high to qualify for Medicaid and not enough to qualify for a subsidy to help pay premi- ums for insurance obtained in the ACA's marketplace. " at just perpetuates this problem of lack of access," he says. Maine, like most of the nation, doesn't have enough behavioral health specialists, particularly child psychiatrists, to meet all of its needs. at's compli- cated by thinly populated regions typi- cally not being able to provide enough patients to sustain the salary require- ments of highly trained specialists. In partnership with MaineHealth, MBH is bridging those geographic and demographic barriers by using telemedicine to connect urban-based specialists with rural patients via two- way videoconferencing technology. "It improves access, it delivers the right care more quickly, it reduces costs because we're taking one individual and using them much more effi ciently than we would if we had to have somebody physically located in each of those communities," he says. Another initiative with MaineHealth taps into Maine Medical Center's teaching hospitality capabilities. "By bringing people to Maine, to learn and train here, they're much more likely to end up practicing here," he says. "So that's a huge advantage of being part- nered with the MaineHealth system." Finally, Merz says Maine busi- nesses have an important role to play in supporting employees with a behavioral health condition — between 20% and 25%, according to national studies. e Mental Health Parity Act of 2008, for example, requires group health plans and health insurance issuers to ensure that fi nan- cial requirements such as co-pays and deductibles and treatment limitations (such as visit limits) for mental health or substance use disorder benefi ts are no more restrictive than the require- ments for physical health problems. " ere is a general stigma involved in mental health illnesses," Merz says. "So we need the employer community to help provide stable employment, because if we don't do that, those are the same people who are going to go on social assistance. It's way better when people are gainfully employed." J M C , M a i n e b i z s e n i o r writer, can be reached at @ . and @ J M » C O N T I N U E D F RO M P R E V I O U S PA G E IT'S HEALTHY TO BE SAFE Since 1993, MEMIC has helped reduce workers' comp costs in Maine by more than 50 percent and lost-time injuries by about 40 percent. Today, MEMIC continues its mission to improve workplace safety with a focus on ergonomics and wellness. MEMIC policyholders can get help on wellness through free access to thousands of resources, covering topics from workplace culture and ergonomics to back safety and workplace stress, all of which can help your employees be healthier and safer. When it comes to injury prevention, MEMIC walks the talk with two daily stretch breaks for employees. 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"There are medicines out "There are medicines out "There are medicines out "There are medicines out "There are medicines out "There are medicines out "There are medicines out "There are medicines out "There are medicines out there to treat addictions, there to treat addictions, there to treat addictions, there to treat addictions, there to treat addictions, there to treat addictions, there to treat addictions, there to treat addictions, there to treat addictions, there to treat addictions, there to treat addictions, there to treat addictions, there to treat addictions, but if you don't provide the therapy along with the medicine you're just going to be spending a lot of money on medicines and people are going to fall back on their same patterns. So you have to do the two together. — Stephen Merz

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