Thursday, December 09, 2004

Private-For-Profit and Private-Non-Profit Substance Abuse Treatment Facilities, 2003
A new report, available in HTML and Acrobat formats, from SAMHSA/OAS. Among the highlights - "Of the 13,623 facilities responding to SAMHSA's 2003 National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services (N-SSATS), 87% were operated by private organizations. Among the private facilities, 26% were operated by for-profit organizations and 74% were operated by non-profit organizations; Private non-profit facilities had an higher average percentage of clients who were being treated for both drug and alcohol abuse (58%) than private for-profits (48%) and were more likely to offer residential treatment (36% vs. 15%)..."  
  

A win-win for health-care providers and consumers
Story in the December APA Monitor - "After years of legislative efforts, coalition building and discussions with managed-care officials, psychologists in Rhode Island--and their clients--are seeing the fruits of their labor. In August, they gained major concessions from Blue Cross/Blue Shield in their state. The company increased mental health benefits to 30 visits--an increase of 10 visits--dropped outpatient care management requirements and raised psychologist provider fees. The changes don't just benefit providers; they also assist consumers by giving them more available, accessible, comprehensive psychological services, notes Peter Oppenheimer, PhD, past-president of the Rhode Island Psychological Association "  
  

Children's mental health problems seen as 'epidemic'
Lead story in a special section in the latest APA Monitor - "One in five children and teens suffers from mental health problems, and the number is growing. The World Health Organization estimates that by 2020, neuropsychiatric disorders in children will swell by 50 percent compared with other health-related problems, making them one of the five leading causes of childhood illness, disability and death. While it is unclear exactly why the numbers are rising so rapidly, many experts believe it is related to increased stress in children and families and better diagnosis of existing problems. Yet, despite the fact that these conditions exact heavy tolls on the young--including substance abuse, academic failure, criminal involvement and suicide--less than half receive treatment, according to several recent reports, including those by a 2003 APA task force and a recent presidential subcommittee on children's mental health. Worse yet, only 20 percent get the right kind of treatment, the reports note. See also, in the same issue, Should our children be taking psychotropics?, What's new in children's mental health, Effective education for autism and A dilemma of definition.  
  

Pfizer To Turn Over Zoloft Research
AP story reprinted at InteliHealth - "Pfizer Inc. will turn over some internal research documents on its anti-depressant drug Zoloft to lawyers defending a 15-year-old South Carolina boy accused of murdering his grandparents. A Pfizer spokesman said Tuesday the New York-based drug company will comply with a South Carolina Circuit Court judge's order late last week requiring the drug maker to hand over the documents, which contain medical information from clinical trials."  
  

Medicaid Managed Care: Access and Quality Requirements Specific to Low-Income and Other Special Needs Enrollees
A GAO report in Adobe Acrobat format - "The use of managed care within Medicaid, a joint federal-state program that finances health insurance for certain low-income families with children and individuals who are aged or disabled, increased significantly during the 1990s. By 2003, 59 percent of Medicaid beneficiaries were enrolled in managed care, compared with less than 10 percent in 1991.1 Medicaid managed care, under which states make prospective payments to managed care plans to provide or arrange for all services for enrollees,2 attempts to ensure the provision of appropriate health care services in a cost-efficient manner. However, because plans are paid a fixed amount regardless of the number of services they provide, managed care programs require safeguards against the incentive for some plans to underserve enrollees, such as by limiting enrollees’ access to care. Access is also affected by other factors, such as physician location and willingness to participate in managed care plans."