Identification and early intervention for pregnant and postpartum women with substance-use disorders (SUD) are critical for optimizing maternal and neonatal health and wellbeing. The risk factors, common barriers to treatment, evidence-based practices around screening and interventions, and the framework for collaborative strategies to support pregnant and postpartum women with SUD will be discussed.

TennCare, in collaboration with Optum Rx, developed a multimodal program focused on encouraging LAI antipsychotic utilization and improving outcomes for patients with schizophrenia. This E-newsletter will provide an overview of the program, including details regarding the benefits of LAI atypical antipsychotics and other available agents, a brief review of schizophrenia and potential clinical steps. Additional information regarding the retrospective drug utilization review process and the rationale for brand drug preference will also be highlighted.

In this activity, participants will explore the pandemic’s impacts on individuals’ mental health, including the increasing risks for, and prevalence of, stress, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder, especially for special populations such as front-line personnel (i.e., health care professionals (HCPs), teachers and funeral directors), children and the millennial and geriatric populations. In addition, participants will review the multifaceted effects of the pandemic on the behavioral health care delivery system, specifically regarding access to care, delivery of services and digital health utilization. The implications for current and future utilization of delivery modalities, such as telehealth, behavioral health coaching and other mental health care management strategies will be discussed, taking into consideration the behavioral health care concerns that have emerged during this transitional time in response to the transforming health care landscape and the population’s evolving mental health care needs. 

Participants in this activity will learn about the system framework theory of decision-making and how System I- and System II-type cognitive processes can best be utilized in the health care setting. The role of heuristics (mental “shortcuts” and rules-of-thumb) will be examined, as well as the types of cognitive biases (inherent and often unconscious systematic errors in thinking) that most commonly result in negative health outcomes. Debiasing strategies to address these negative influences on rational and optimal decision-making that are applicable to the self and the health care team will be explored.