Thursday, January 15, 2004

New SAMHSA Technical Assistance Center Available to Aid in Treatment of
January 8 SAMHSA press release - "The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) today announced a new technical assistance center and help line designed to support state efforts to provide effective treatment services for persons with co-occurring substance abuse and mental disorders. The Co-Occurring Center for Excellence will help identify best practices in treating co-occurring substance abuse and mental disorders and will support the application of these practices through technical assistance and cross-training, state of the art materials, and a website..."  
  

Information Technology: Benefits Realized for Selected Health Care Functions
An October 2003 GAO report made available at the Open Minds web site - " The rapidly rising costs of health care, along with an increasing concern for the quality of care and the safety of patients, are driving health care organizations to use information technology (IT) to automate clinical care operations and their associated administrative functions. Among its other functions, IT is now being used for electronic medical records, order management and results reporting, patient care management, and Internet access for patient and provider communications. It also provides automated billing and financial management."  
  

Review of The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Medicaid Behavioral HealthChoices Program
An HHS Office of the Inspector General report (in Adobe Acrobat format) available at the Open Minds web site - "The HealthChoices program began in February 1997 under a waiver granted by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) under section 1915(b) of the Social Security Act. The program has two components, physical health and behavioral health and is administered by Pennsylvania's Department of Public Welfare (DPW). Our objectives were to determine: (I) to what extent intergovernmental transfers or other financing mechanisms are used to maximize Federal Medicaid reimbursement, (2) if the contract procurement process conforms to Federal regulations and (3) if the profits1 (or losses) incurred by counties in administering this program are unreasonable."  
  

Highlights of the FY 2004 "Omnibus" Appropriations Bill
An "Issues Spotlight" item at NAMI - "When the Senate reconvenes on January 20, it will immediately turn to action on a massive $820 billion spending bill covering funding for dozens of federal agencies for the current fiscal year. The FY 2004 Omnibus Appropriations bill (HR 2673) includes important increases for mental illness research, veterans’ medical care and homeless programs that will be placed at risk if the Senate fails to act quickly..."  
  

Docs Say They're Ill Prepared to Spot Mental Problems in Teens
Connecticut Post story reprinted at the NAMI web site - "Many doctors aren't confident of their abilities to diagnose and treat mental illness in teens, especially when the disorders are serious, a new survey of family physicians and pediatricians finds. Only half of the doctors said they always make a point of asking adolescent patients about their emotional well-being during exams. And three of four admitted they weren't very good at detecting drug abuse. But doctors don't necessarily deserve blame for their shortcomings, says a teen health expert whose university helped produce the survey. Many physicians don't have the proper training to diagnose mental illness and are too rushed during check-ups..."  
  

Health Spending Accelerated Again in 2002
Reuters Health story at Medscape - "U.S. spending on healthcare reached $1.6 trillion in 2002, according to official government statistics released Thursday, accounting for 14.9% of total domestic spending. The 9.3% increase over the previous year was more than twice the rate of growth for the economy as a whole, the fourth consecutive year that health spending has outpaced total economic growth. Hospital spending continued to account for the largest share of growth in health spending, rising 9.5% to $486.5 billion. Analysts from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), who produced the report, attributed the increases to a variety of factors, including hospitals' ability to win higher payments from insurance companies and higher wages resulting from a shortage of nurses and other health professionals." [Viewing Medscape resources requires registration, which is free].  
  

Woodland Park Hospital will be closed (Oregon)
Story in The Oregonian - "Woodland Park Hospital, a fixture on Portland's eastside for more than 40 years, is closing, at least temporarily. The 202-bed hospital's deteriorating financial condition is forcing the closure, said Ken Perry, chief executive officer of Symphony Healthcare, owner of both Woodland Park and Eastmoreland Hospital in Southeast Portland. ... Woodland Park's closure may put the local mental health community in a bind. It operates an inpatient psychiatric unit that is one of a handful contracting with the state and counties to accept psychiatric patients. Woodland Park's psychiatric unit has come under fire at times, most recently in September, when state regulators temporarily suspended its license to accept new patients..."  
  

FDA Approves Zyprexa (Olanzapine) for Maintenance of Bipolar Disorder
Story at Doctor's Guide - "The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Zyprexa® (olanzapine) for maintenance in the treatment of bipolar disorder, Eli Lilly and Company announced today. This FDA approval recognizes that Zyprexa is an effective treatment to delay relapse into either mania or depression in patients with bipolar disorder. Zyprexa is the first treatment in nearly 30 years to be recognized by the FDA as a treatment for both acute mania and maintenance treatment in bipolar disorder."  
  

Feds, state settle on abuse at centers for mentally retarded (Louisiana)
Leesville Leader story - "The federal government has ended its nine-year investigation of abuse at Louisiana's two largest centers for the mentally handicapped, but is keeping an eye on both. The state will spend nearly $1 million during the next three years as part of the settlement of abuse allegations at Pinecrest Developmental Center in Pineville and the Hammond Developmental Center. Staffers at both repeatedly abused residents, both verbally and physically, the U.S. Department of Justice said in Monday's settlement announcement. "  
  

Mental Health in Columbus faces big Budget Cuts (Georgia)
Brief WTVM story focusing on the organization New Horizons - "The Governor's budget calls for big cuts for the mentally ill. Patients would be losing 7-million dollars statewide. ... Governor Perdue is suggesting because New Horizons is fiscally successful, it can handle a bigger slice of the budget cuts than it's counterparts in other cities. New Horizons alone would shoulder 22 percent of the mental health cuts."  
  

County opens permanent mental health court today (Illinois)
Daily-Herald story - "DuPage County will send its first participants to a permanent mental health court today, making it the first in the state to embrace a counseling and treatment alternative to jail time. Buoyed by the success of a six-month test program, officials made the program permanent and expanded it to handle 50 participants a year rather than 23. The court funnels mentally ill offenders into a regimen of counseling, medication and well-being checkups..."