CARF significantly expands technology guidelines

The technology standards updates are published in the ASPIRE to Excellence® section of all CARF 2019 standards manuals From portals and apps to electronic health records to firewall and malware protection, technology is increasingly vital to modern health and human services. It can expand an organization’s ability to provide services and increase consumers’ access to them….

CARF adds screening for suicide risk to its assessment standards

Suicide risk screening requirement added to 2019 Behavioral Health and Opioid Treatment Program Standards Manuals. Data show that a large number of people who die by suicide had prior contact with the behavioral healthcare system. As part of a society-wide suicide intervention and prevention strategy, the need for evidence-based universal screening within behavioral healthcare settings…

New CARF standards address variability of care in office-based opioid treatment settings

More than 170 advisory council participants and field review respondents provided feedback to create the first national best-practice framework. A new medication-assisted treatment (MAT) setting, called an office-based opioid treatment (OBOT) program, has arisen in recent years in response to the growing opioid epidemic. OBOT programs offer treatment solely for people with opioid use disorder…