New Jersey Funding For SUD Providers
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A New Approach to Combat the Opioid Crisis
In the field of mental health and substance abuse, there is a strong commitment to combating the threat posed by the opioid crisis in the U.S., particularly in New Jersey. Last year, Governor Murphy announced his allocation of $100 million to fighting the opioid epidemic, with $6 million being provided by the New Jersey Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of Human Services (DHS) to behavioral health facilities for the implementation of electronic health records (EHR). This incentive is a huge step in the right direction in treating substance abuse disorders.
According to a survey administered by the New Jersey Association of Mental Health & Addiction Agencies (NJAMHAA), roughly 60% of substance abuse providers are in need of an EHR upgrade. As it is clear that substance abuse providers, who have previously not been included in program funding, are in need of increased access to up-to-date EHR, the Substance Use Disorder Promoting Interoperability Program (SUD PIP) was established. SUD PIP’s goal is to increase access to EHR and connect substance abuse providers with each other and the healthcare system through the New Jersey Health Information Network (NJHIN), a shared services platform that provides sharing of electronic patient information and health data sources. This will improve the coordination of services, and increase the quality of care and treatment capacity.
Funding Eligibility and Details
Eligibility requirements in order to receive the funding are listed below.
- Must be a non-profit, for-profit, or governmental entity
- Must be a Medicaid provider with adjucated claims from Medicaid
- Must be officially licensed to provide SUD treatment
- Your SUD treatment services must be funded in part by DMHAS
- Must have a record of at least 50 SUD admissions during the 2018 calendar year
SUD PIP is a milestone-based incentive program. This means that particular milestones must be reached before the payment can be approved. The five milestones in the table below, pulled from the NJII website, are in order, along with their payment amounts.
| Milestones | SUD Provider Payment |
|---|---|
| Milestone 1 (Participation) | $5,000 |
| Milestone 2 (EHR Go-live) | $20,000 |
| Milestone 2 (EHR Upgrade) | $7,500 |
| Milestone 3 (HIE Connection) | $7,500 |
| Milestone 4 (PMP Connection)* | $5,000 |
| Milestone 5 (NJSAMS Connection)* | $5,000 |
(Promoting Interoperability Program for New Jersey Substance Use Disorder (SUD) Providers, 2019)
Milestone 1 is a participation agreement signed with the New Jersey Innovation Institute (NJII). Milestone 2 can be achieved with the assistance of (NJAMHAA). Milestones 3, 4, and 5 refer to the establishment of connectivity with the New Jersey Health Information Network (NJHIN/HIE), the Prescription Monitoring Program (PMP), and the New Jersey Substance Abuse Monitoring System (NJSAMS), respectively. The payments are distributed through NJII.
Zoobook Can Help
Originating in New Jersey, Zoobook Systems stands out from other EHR because it is fully integrated with NJSAMS policies, and can extract NJSAMS data in just one click.
The state funding is being offered until March 2020, but is subject to deadline extensions. Zoobook is committed to helping providers navigate this process and receive up to thousands in funding for their facilities. Zoobook is also offering free training for staff members of facilities willing to make the switch. This is the perfect opportunity to gain the resources to overcome limitations holding us back from properly taking on the opioid crisis once and for all.