MATSUI STATEMENT ON CMS ANNOUNCEMENT TO ADVANCE BEHAVIORAL HEALTH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY UPTAKE

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Doris Matsui (CA-07) issued the following statement after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced their Innovation in Behavioral Health (IBH) Model to improve the overall quality of care and outcomes for adults with mental health conditions and/or substance use disorder. The IBH Model will connect people with the physical, behavioral, and social supports needed to manage their care, including through enhancing health information technology (health IT) capacity.

Matsui has long fought for the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) to adopt a model to advance behavioral health providers’ health IT uptake. Last October, Matsui wrote to CMMI urging them to implement a model to provide incentive payments for behavioral health providers to adopt health IT.

“The benefits are clear – connected, coordinated care leads to better health outcomes and better overall quality of care,” said Congresswoman Matsui. “That’s why I have been such a strong advocate for integrated, whole-person care between physicians and behavioral health providers. Adoption of health IT systems is a crucial catalyst to make that happen. Today’s announcement is a critical step in the right direction for behavioral health IT. I am grateful to CMS for their dedication to improving behavioral health care and look forward to working with them to continue advancing integrated care through advancing connectivity.”

Congresswoman Matsui has long led efforts to improve the quality and efficiency of care through health IT adoption by behavioral health providers. She originally co-authored H.R. 3331, a bill to promote testing of incentive payments for behavioral health providers to adopt and use certified electronic health record technology. In 2018, Congress included this legislation as Section 6001 of the SUPPORT Act. This Congress, she authored the BHIT Coordination Act, which would provide $20 million a year in grant funding over five fiscal years (FY25-29) to finance behavioral health IT adoption through the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC).                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

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