Wednesday, October 16, 2002

Healthcare Revolution Needed
HealthLeaders feature article by Bill Bysinger on the need to "invest in change and begin to create a collaborative environment that will deliver cost effectiveness, process efficiencies, faster reimbursement, and a higher quality of integrated data for a more seamless healthcare environment."  
  

Creating a Culturally Inclusive Organization: A Resource Action Guide
Published earlier this year, this guide from the Canadian Mental health Association "is a product of the fourth and final phase of the Cross Cultural Mental Health (CCMH) project funded by the Department of Canadian Heritage. Phase 4 of the CCMH project (1998-00) was hosted by CMHA Nova Scotia Division and consisted of the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the organizational change process toward greater ethnocultural inclusion at four CMHA project sites: CMHA Prince George Branch (BC), CMHA BC Division, CMHA Thompson Region (MAN), and CMHA NS Division. The purpose of the Resource Action Guide is to assist Divisions, Regions and Branches in moving forward toward greater cultural diversity and inclusion."  
  

Intervention Improves Mental Health in Children of Divorce
Medscape Medical News story on research reported in the Oct. 16 of The Journal of the American Medical Association indicating that "active intervention with group and individual sessions reduced the frequency with which children of divorce developed mental disorders," inckuding reduced use of illegal substances, problem externalization, drug and alcohol use, and number of sexual partners, though "larger trials are necessary to confirm these findings and to establish public health guidelines." [Viewing Medscape resources requires registration, which is free]. At the JAMA web site, you can also view a detailed abstract of the study and author information.  
  

CMS named to enforce HIPAA transaction and code set standards
HHS press release - "HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson announced today that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will be responsible for enforcing the transaction and code set standards that are part of the administrative simplification provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996." The release notes, too, that CMS will continue to enforce the insurance portability requirements of HIPAA.  
  

Justice Dept. to Scrutinize Confinement of Mentally Ill
New York Times article from this past weekend - "The United States Justice Department has opened a review of the Pataki administration's policy of releasing hundreds of patients from state psychiatric wards to locked units in nursing homes, seeking to determine whether conditions in the units violate federal civil rights laws, officials said yesterday. Lawyers in the department's civil rights division have begun interviewing officials, mental health experts and others in New York, and are considering whether to mount a full-scale investigation." [Viewing New York Times resources requires registration, which is free].