Friday, November 07, 2003

Privacy Rule Shows Need For Documentation Standards
Psychiatric News story on a January 2003 HHS report "describing many of the negative consequences of the failure of managed care organizations (MCOs) to reach an agreement with psychiatrists about what information the MCOs can require from them about patients. The report, Privacy Issues in Mental Health and Substance Abuse Treatment: Information Sharing Between Providers and Managed Care Organizations, came about as a result of a meeting with senior HHS officials in which then-APA president Richard Harding, M.D., and president-elect Paul Appelbaum, M.D., presented member concerns about interpretation of the 'minimum necessary information' language of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)..." See also the full report.  
  

State Limits Insurer Access To Psychiatry Records
Psychiatric News story - " Psychiatrists pressured by the New York Department of Health to turn over their medical records to Oxford without obtaining a signed patient consent were vindicated by the department’s directive to all managed care companies. When Oxford Health Plans began auditing psychiatrists’ patient records last fall, psychiatrists and others raised concerns that patients had not authorized release of their records. Some psychiatrists asked Oxford for a copy of the signed release from each of their patients involved in the audit and were told that patients authorized release of their medical records when they signed their enrollment form..."  
  

Many Substance Abusers 'Not Ready' to Seek Treatment
PR Newswire press release at Yahoo - "A new report from the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) shows that even when people recognize they are having problems with alcohol or drugs many do not seek treatment because they are "just not ready" to stop using. The report also found that many people do not believe they can afford to obtain treatment. The report estimates there were about 6 million persons with illicit drug dependence or abuse in 2002 that did not seek specialty treatment for their illicit drug use. There were an estimated 17 million persons in 2002 with alcohol dependence or abuse who did not receive specialty treatment." See also the full report, Reasons for Not Receiving Substance Abuse Treatment, was developed from SAMHSA's National Survey on Drug Use and Health.