–Healthcare IT News
Democratic Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton posted her plans for mental health care on August 29 with a focus on harnessing information technologies to bolster care coordination.
Clinton said she would adjust payment systems in Medicare, Medicaid, and under the Public Health Service Act to allow for reimbursement of telepsychiatry and other telehealth services delivered through primary care and hospital settings.
“We’ve got to break through and break down the stigma and shame,” Clinton said. “We’ve got to make clear that mental health is not a personal failing. Right now it’s our country which is failing people with mental health issues.”
Her plan also calls for increasing research into brain and behavioral science, including work on PTSD traumatic brain injury; developing new links with private and nonprofit sectors; and brain and behavioral science research based on open data. Clinton also promised to direct federal agencies to study suicide and how to prevent it. Her plan also calls for training law enforcement officers to recognize and relate with people who have a mental illness.
