Monday, March 15, 2004

Proving the Value of Behavioral Health Benefits: The PacifiCare Behavioral Health Model
Article in the Open Minds newsletter - " Today it's difficult to read a daily newspaper that doesn't include at least one article about the increasing lack of affordable health care. Health insurance is often looked upon as a necessary evil, but one that employers continue to provide - often at decreased coverage levels or with a portion of the premium costs shifted to their employees. As health care premiums make deeper cuts into profits, do payers wonder if they're getting a more valuable product? Probably not. But perhaps they should demand that health care insurers provide them with data that support the value of the benefits they do purchase. Prudent companies would ask this of virtually any other comparable business expenditure. Why not of health care? Once employers have a clear grasp on how their health care premiums contribute to increased workplace productivity and decreased absenteeism, they might view these dollars as providing them a clear bottom-line return - not simply as a cost of doing business..."  
  

Antipsychotic Medications: Compliance and Attitudes Towards Treatment
Article in Current Opinion in Psychiatry at Medscape - "A review of a number of selected reports published during one year, from September 2002, about compliance and attitudes towards antipsychotic medication revealed several clinical and research themes..." [Viewing Medscape resources requires registration, which is free].  
  

Cultural Competence in Health Care: Is it important for people with chronic conditions?
An issue brief from the Georgetown University Center on an Aging Society - "The increasing diversity of the nation brings opportunities and challenges for health care providers, health care systems, and policy makers to create and deliver culturally competent services. Cultural competence is defined as the ability of providers and organizations to effectively deliver health care services that meet the social, cultural, and linguistic needs of patients. A culturally competent health care system can help improve health outcomes and quality of care, and can contribute to the elimination of racial and ethnic health disparities. Examples of strategies to move the health care system towards these goals include providing relevant training on cultural competence and cross-cultural issues to health professionals and creating policies that reduce administrative and linguistic barriers to patient care..."  
  

Britain Warns Over High Doses of Glaxo Antidepressant
Reuters Health story at Yahoo - "Britain's Committee on Safety of Medicines advised doctors on Thursday not to prescribe higher doses of GlaxoSmithKline Plc's antidepressant Seroxat, which is sold as Paxil in the United States. Committee chairman Gordon Duff said in a statement that increasing the dose beyond recommended levels did not appear to increase the efficacy of the drug and might be detrimental in some cases..."