Responding to a Denial

If your patient is denied access to an inpatient/residential behavioral health (BH) treatment program due to their bleeding disorder (BD), tell them not to give up, that you will work through this together, and advocate for access to treatment! 

When a BH treatment facility denies a patient with BD access, please follow the steps below for responding to a denial. Regardless of the facility’s final decision, please share the denial experience by emailing info@bdsumhac.org. The information you share about your denial experiences – and specifically your experience using the steps and suggested language – will help us refine the toolkit and help others with BD to get access to treatment.

Steps for Responding to Behavioral Health Facility Denials:

  1. Confirm the the denial was due to the person’s bleeding disorder

  2. Educate the facility staff about bleeding disorders

  3. Assure the inpatient/residential facility of the stability of the patient

  4. Request “reasonable accommodations” under the Americans with Disabilities Act

  5. File a discrimination complaint with the federal Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights

  6. Contact your state’s Ombudsman or Office of the Inspector General

  7. Consider alternatives to inpatient/residential treatment

In this webpage, the term “behavioral health” includes both mental health and substance use disorder.