Mental Health & Addiction
Promoting behavioral health integration to improve outcomes
Capitol Hill Briefing on Paying for Outcomes in Addiction Recovery Services (February 26, 2020).
Numerous factors – federal and state legislative changes, incentives for payers and providers to integrate behavioral and physical health, and increasing demand for services – are changing the way mental health and addiction services are paid for and delivered. Third Horizon Strategies understands how each of these factors presents both opportunities and challenges for providers, policy makers, payers, and patients alike. Too often health systems are not poised with the work force capacity, infrastructure, or financial incentive to provide comprehensive care to individuals across the behavioral health spectrum. Since 2018, the firm’s leadership has supported the work of the Alliance for Addiction Payment Reform – an alliance focused on developing strategies to establish a structure that promotes an integrated treatment and recovery network. The firm helps organizations identify innovative care models and form nontraditional partnerships to promote community behavioral health and integration, improve health outcomes, and drive down the total cost of care.
Thought Leadership
Eco-anxiety: The Ramifications of Climate Change on Mental Health
Climate change is one of the greatest challenges facing humanity today. While the environmental and economic facets are widely known, one of the least talked about aspects of climate change is its profound impact on mental health. In August 2021, the United Nations...
Opioid Litigation in the U.S.: The Implications for Communities and Systems
For years, individuals, families, communities, and systems impacted by the opioid epidemic have sought a deeper understanding of the root causes of the explosion of opioid use disorders and opioid-related overdose deaths in the U.S. Of the many influencing factors,...
Building a Stronger Addiction and Mental Health Infrastructure
On Friday, the House passed a Senate-approved $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill, allocating more than $550 billion to bolster America's roads and bridges, broadband, water, and energy systems over five years. Many hailed the passage of the bill as sorely...
The Promise and the Challenges of Tele-Behavioral Health
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, state and federal lawmakers established emergency, regulatory flexibilities – including eliminating requirements that patients have an established, pre-existing relationship with a provider, reimbursing telehealth at the same rates as...
Doing The Same Things Over and Expecting Different Results…While The Numbers Keep Rising
On Tuesday, October 26 the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) released the 2020 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). Sadly, the findings are no surprise to most who work on substance use and addiction issues: Over 40 million...
Ways Communities and Health Care Systems Can Respond to the Substance Use Epidemic
This month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released provisional drug overdose data for the 12 months ending March 2021. The report predicts over 99,000 drug overdose deaths during that time, a 31 percent increase over the number of fatalities in the...
Bridging the Gap: Efforts to Increase Access to Mental Health and SUD Treatment
For nearly twenty years, I spent many days at the Illinois statehouse speaking to legislators about the significant need for addiction and mental health care. At the time, I could easily cite numerous studies showing the significant gap between individuals in need...
Promising Solutions to Address Behavioral Health Workforce Shortages
The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated stressors, causing more people to seek behavioral health services from an already over-taxed workforce. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, about 4 in 10 adults in the U.S. have reported symptoms of anxiety or depressive...
Recovery Month Capitol Hill Briefing Recap
In observation of National Recovery Month, Third Horizon Strategies convened a virtual Capitol Hill briefing on September 21, 2021 to discuss President Biden’s FY2022 request for a 10-percent Recovery Support Service Set-Aside in the Federal Substance Abuse Prevention...
Webinar Recap: What Would $350 Million Annually for Recovery Supports Mean?
Third Horizon Strategies, in partnership with Capitol Decisions, hosted a webinar on July 19 to inform key stakeholders about the potential for a $350 million recovery set-aside in the Substance Abuse Block Grant (SABG). Presenters – including Greg Williams, Tym...
What We Do
Advocacy
Convene coalitions and partnerships to inform and advance mental health and addiction policies
Customized Coaching
Offer customized coaching and support to help clients accelerate system changes necessary to provide high quality, coordinated care and achieve organizational sustainability
Education
Identify and disseminate best practices through learning collaboratives, issue briefs, thought leadership, webinars, and reports
Market Insights
Conduct environmental scans, focus groups and key informant interviews to ascertain gaps, demand, and opportunities to enhance mental health and addiction prevention and treatment
Greg Williams
Managing Partner
Greg is a health policy consultant and communications specialist, providing strategic oversight and direction to numerous initiatives. Greg has over a decade of experience working with non-profits and government agencies on addiction. Most notably, Greg manages the Alliance for Addiction Payment Reform, a national collaboration aimed at improving outcomes for patients, payers, and health systems, and served as a managing editor of the Addiction Recovery Medical Home Alternative Payment Model.
Explore our other specialties
Community Development
Advancing the health and vitality of our most vulnerable communities
Insurance
Partnering with action-oriented commercial insurance entities to redesign how we minimize risk and maximize the health of organizations and individuals
Health Care
Charting a path for all individuals, families, and communities to achieve optimal health