08/03/2020
Survey sheds light on stressed behavioral health treatment system in midst of COVID-19 pandemic
The Ohio Council of Behavioral Health and Family Services Providers (The Ohio Council) recently conducted a membership survey to gain insight into the impact that COVID-19 is having on Ohio’s mental health and addiction treatment providers and system.
The Ohio Council finalized the analysis in this report: COVID-19 BH Provider Impact Survey. The report describes the impact of COVID-19 on a range of topics, including service access and capacity, workforce, and business operations. The Ohio Council conducted the survey from July 14-17, receiving responses from 74 provider organizations offering a diverse and representative sample of the behavioral health provider experience.
The report documents the swift transition and significant increase in use of telehealth services to sustain access to mental health and addiction treatment during the pandemic. However, the report indicates an overall revenue decrease of more than 20 percent for most behavioral health provider organizations in this mostly telehealth environment. Other key highlights from the survey report include:
- 69 percent of behavioral health organizations report that most of their services continue to be provided via telehealth. Nearly 60 percent of organizations report they plan to continue providing as many services through telehealth as possible.
- 95 percent of organizations reported a decrease in weekly revenue and many organizations (58 percent) indicate a decrease in weekly revenue of 21 percent or more.
- Providers have successfully accessed emergency federal coronavirus funds to temporarily sustain service access, workforce, and operations.
- 78 percent of organizations responding to this survey received forgivable loans through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). However, 15 percent of organizations were ineligible to even apply for the PPP due to organizational size.
- 73 percent of organizations reported receipt of HHS Provider Relief Funds at the time of the survey. 18 percent were in the process of applying for the Targeted Medicaid distribution
- 38 organizations reported furloughing or laying off 915 FTEs due to the pandemic. However, access to the federal PPP loans have enabled organizations to re-hire 324.25 FTEs or 35 percent of those furloughed/laid off.
- While access to Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) has improved, providers continue to experience challenges in obtaining disinfecting/antibacterial cleaning wipes, disinfecting cleaning sprays and products, and hand sanitizer.
Read full report COVID-19 BH Provider Impact Survey