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  Practice Support Newsletter
  May 2026
Mental Health Awareness Month
May has been designated as Mental Health Awareness Month. This time provides an opportunity to highlight resources and promote tools that support overall health and wellbeing of those in the community.
 
Mental health is a growing concern as life stressors increase. There are a wide range of conditions that fall under the mental health umbrella. Common conditions include anxiety, depression, ADHD, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia. Any person of any age or background can be affected. Did you know? NAMI, SAMHSA, NIMH and the CDC report:
  • Nearly 1 in 5 adults in the United States live with a mental health condition. 
  • About 1 in 20 Americans live with a serious mental health condition (major depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, etc.) significantly impacting daily living.
  • 20% of adolescents aged 12-17 have a current, diagnosed mental or behavioral health condition
  • In 2020, only 20% of adults received any mental health treatment in the previous year, which included 10% who received counseling or therapy from a professional.
  • Suicide was the 2nd leading cause of death among those ages 10-34 in the United States in 2023. There were over twice as many suicides that year as there were homicides.
Healthcare professionals should work to improve common measures associated with awareness, treatment and management of mental health related concerns: 
  • Prevention and Screening: Screening for Depression and Follow-Up Plan
  • Follow-Up Care for Children Prescribed ADHD Medication (ADD)
  • Antidepressant Medication Management
Let’s take a deeper dive into the Depression Screening measure: 
  • What - This measure screens all patients ages 12 and older for depression.
  • Denominator - includes all patients 12 and older (at the beginning of the measurement period) with at least one (1) qualifying encounter during the measurement period. 
  • Numerator - includes those patients screened using a standardized tool. If the results are deemed positive, then a follow-up plan is documented. 
  • Exclusions to denominator - Patients who have ever been diagnosed with bipolar disorder (at any time prior to the qualifying encounter). 
  • **See the link above for detailed measure specifications.
Additional mental health resources include: 
  • National Alliance for Mentally Ill (NAMI)
  • U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – Mental Health
  • National Institute of Health – Mental Health (NIMH)
  • NAMI – North Carolina
  • Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
  • NC-PAL
  • NC MATTERS
  • Mental Health America of Central Carolinas
  • Advanced Integrated Mental Health Solutions (AIMS Center) – Collaborative Care
  • NC AHEC - Collaborative Care Model (CoCM) – *Please reach out to your South Piedmont AHEC Practice Support Coach for more details*

Pediatric Mental Health Resources

As we continue the focus on Mental Health Awareness, we want to highlight some of the pediatric mental health resources that North Carolina has to offer.

NC-PAL is the NC Psychiatric Access Line available for providers with questions about pediatric and perinatal mental health. According to the website, “The line is answered by a team of trained Behavioral Health Consultants (BHCs). They respond to questions about behavioral health, local resources, and can connect providers to one of our on-call psychiatrists to assist with diagnostic clarification and medication management questions.”

REACH PPP Training – a nationally recognized mental health training program available to pediatric primary care providers in North Carolina. Participants learn ways to diagnose and treat patients, refer families to appropriate care, and learn other tools that can be useful in daily practice. Available training sessions in May, June, July/August and September can be found here. 

NC-PAL Lunch & Learns (all sessions run from 12:10pm – 1:00pm):
  • When Picky Eaters Don’t Grow Out of It: Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (5/11/26)
  • Substance Use: From Prenatal Exposures and Effects on Children to Adolescent Substance Use (5/18/26)
  • Trauma Informed Care in Primary Care Practice (6/1/26)
  • Navigating the Therapy Alphabet: Knowing the Difference between CBT, DBT, and ACT (6/8/26)
Carolina Complete Health (CCH)
& WellCare Merger Updates
There are a few important updates regarding the CCH/WellCare merger as of 4/20/26. Frequently check the Carolina Complete Health (CCH) site for merger updates.  
  • WellCare Secure Provider Portal Access issues and fixes - SPECIAL BULLETIN: Important Update WellCare Secure Provider Portal Access 
  • Submitting claims for dates of service before and after 4/1/26 - SPECIAL BULLETIN: Merger Claims Reminder
  • WellCare claim reprocessing tied to rate rebase reversal. WellCare continues to work to process claims that were not completed by the NC DHHS established timeframe. The team is on track to complete this effort by 4/30. Any updates to this matter will be shared as information becomes available. 
  • CCH revised guidance on antepartum billing and coding: The NC Medicaid Clinical Coverage guidelines stipulate that for 59426, the “date of service on the claim must be the date of delivery”. Therefore, if the delivery date is prior to 04/01, the provider should bill the claim to WellCare, regardless of if the antepartum care spans the merger date.

Regulatory Reminders: SPICE

SPICE is the Statewide Program for Infection Control and Epidemiology. This site contains vast resources including tip sheets, courses, articles, fact sheets, templates, toolkits and webinars. You can find tools on topics such as infection prevention/control, environmental resources, antibiotic stewardship and quality improvement. To get your infection control answers, reach out and ASK SPICE. The site notes that responses are usually answered within one business day.

NC Medicaid Updates

Please visit the NC Medicaid Provider Bulletin to view the latest updates. A quarterly update was just released on April 16, 2026 , highlighting the NC Medicaid Provider and Health Plan Lookup Tool, behavioral health accreditation, current provider disclosure requirements, NC Medicaid upcoming webinars, and the risks associated with inaccurate NC Tracks Provider Record reporting.
 
Currently, NC Medicaid has made the decision not to move forward with implementation of the Advanced Medical Home (AMH) Standard Performance Incentive Program (SPIP). Providers will still be able to access opportunities related to value-based payments via their health plans. For more information, see the Medicaid Bulletin - Value-Based Payment Update: AMH Standardized Performance Incentive Program | NC Medicaid

A NC Medicaid Back Porch Chat webinar will be held on May 21, 2026, from noon to 1pm. This webinar will provide several updates on different topics related to NC Medicaid, including TBI Dashboard Overview and Utilization, Standard Plan Performance Comparison Tool, Pharmacy Benefit Administration (PBA) updates, Care Management for At Risk Children / High Risk Pregnancies (CMARC/CMHRP), Quality Measures Dashboard, and H.R.1. See this link to register.

The Tobacco-Free Campus Policy Requirements have been Delayed Indefinitely. “Based on the delay of Tobacco-free Policy Requirements, providers are not required to implement a tobacco-free campus by Jan. 1, 2027.  The Department continues to encourage providers who serve NC Medicaid beneficiaries and State-funded Service recipients to voluntarily support efforts to reduce and/or eliminate tobacco exposure for patients being treated at their facility.”

AHEC Class Spotlight

Understanding Trauma:
Its Impact on the Body & Brain and Pathways to Healing (HopeWay Trauma Webinar Series–Session 1)

Trauma can have severe impacts on the body and the brain. This session discusses trauma and the impact of traumatic experiences. This live webinar will be held on May 6, 2026, from 12:00pm – 1:30pm. Registration and additional information can be found here on the South Piedmont AHEC website.

The Big Picture:
Reshaping the Role of Technology for Adolescent Health – in Partnership with Teen Health Connection

Join other participants for a session on how young adults and teens navigate in this world full of technology. Participants will learn, among other things, ways to help teens effectively manage these tools. This in-person class will be held on May 15, 2026, from 9:00am – 12:15pm. Registration and additional information can be found here on the South Piedmont AHEC website.
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