The Mississippi Behavioral Health Learning Network (MSBHLN) was established by the Mississippi Public Health Institute (MSPHI) in July 2017 in a partnership with the Mississippi Department of Mental Health, Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Services (MSDMH BADS) to provide professional and workforce development to behavioral health providers in the state of Mississippi.
The trainings developed by the MSPHI are designed to help professionals gain a better understanding of substance abuse prevention and substance use disorder treatment, assist with acquisition of current strategies and to provide participants with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to effectively and efficiently perform the responsibilities of their jobs.
We are committed to ensuring that we continue to work toward a unified system of prevention and treatment for substance abuse in Mississippi.
MSBHLN training offers an assortment of relevant and current training modules applicable to the behavioral health profession. In addition to our in-person training, MSBHLN offers an online training network through web-based training, webinars and self-paced learning modules. In addition, many of our training modules provide continuing education credits in multiple disciplines.
The educational purpose of the MSBHN is to offer professionals and practitioners the opportunity to enhance their knowledge, improve their skills, exchange information on best practices and learn strategies to incorporate the latest research and new trends in their practice.
MSPHI assists the MSDH Office of Tobacco Control with ongoing implementation and update of the five-year strategic plan to address tobacco use and treatment in Mississippi. MSPHI also assists with coalition development through training and technical assistance for tobacco-free coalitions.
The Mississippi Public Health Institute (MSPHI) will assist the Mississippi State Department of Mental Health – Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Services (BADS) with implementation of technical support services for Mississippi Prevention Alliance for Communities and Colleges (mPACC). mPACC aims to alter alcohol and prescription drug consumption patterns, consequences, and risk and protective factors by funding up to seven Community Prevention Coalitions (CPCs) to serve an estimated 394,165 adolescents and 344,900 young adults from diverse social and cultural backgrounds per grant year. MSPHI will provide data analysis, coordinate a media campaign and deliver coalition development training.
MSPHI entered into a cooperative agreement to serve as fiscal intermediary to expand capacity for and access to high quality, sustainable, community-based health care services, including primary care, behavioral and mental healthcare, and environmental and occupational medicine on the Gulf Coast through the Gulf Region Health Outreach Program – Primary Care Capacity Project (PCCP), a program of the Louisiana Public Health Institute (LPHI). The purpose of the cooperative agreement is for the PCCP to provide funding for enhancements to the Mississippi Health Information Network (MS-HIN), the state’s Health Information Exchange, to provide ED/IP notifications that will advance transitions of care between Coastal Family Health and eventually other community health centers and the Mississippi Gulf Coast hospitals.
Part of this project involves establishing what parts of behavioral health records can be shared, as described below. The formal ruling on this information can be found here>>.
What CAN be shared:
Miss. Code Section 41-119-13 and 45 CFR 164.501 allow the following to be submitted and shared. Further, Section 41-21-97 supports the sharing of behavioral and mental health records without express patient consent when done so in furtherance of treatment of the patient.
* Medication prescription and monitoring.
* Counseling session start and stop times.
* Modalities and frequencies of treatment.
* Results of clinical tests (blood, lithium, etc).
* Diagnosis summaries.
* Functional status summaries.
* Treatment plan summaries.
* Symptoms and prognostic summaries
* Progress to date
The following behavioral / mental health records CANNOT be shared without patient consent:
* Psychotherapy notes may not be shared without a signed consent. 45 CFR 164.508(a)(2).
* Records related to substance use disorder treatment are treated differently than behavioral and mental health records and may not be released without a signed consent. These regulations may be found in 42 CFR Part 2 § 2.1 which strictly prohibits the sharing of records related to treatment for substance use disorders for any purpose without a written consent, unless it is a documented medical emergency and you have the ability to electronically tag the information to prevent searches and access.
MSPHI works with the Mississippi State Department of Health’s (MSDH) Office of HIV/STD to organize a department-wide work group, develop an evaluation plan and guide staff to implement community-based data collection and analysis for MSDH HIV/STD programs.
MSPHI serves as the external evaluator for Greenwood Leflore Hospital’s REACH project, which is funded by CDC. The REACH project aims to strengthen existing capacity to implement locally tailored evidence and practice-based improvements in the African American population. The goal is to reduce health disparities in the population in access and compliance to care in diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. A community-based participatory approach (CBPA) will unite public health and partners from various sectors of the community to address these disparities.
The Mississippi Public Health Institute works with the Division of Oral Health within the Mississippi State Department of Health to develop a five-year strategic plan. MSPHI convenes stakeholders to provide input on the plan.
