Monday, May 03, 2004

Adding a mental health care team to a primary care clinic increases on-site treatment
Item in CMHA/Ontario's Mental Health Notes based on an article in the April issue of Psychiatric Services - "Intergrating a mental health care team within a primary care clinic improved the clinic’s ability to evaluate and stabilize patients’ psychiatric disorders and reduced referrals to specialized services, according to a study for the Department of Veterans Affairs..."  
  

Mental health reform hinges on rerouting funds for services (North Carolina)
Herald Sun story - "The success of the state's mental health reform efforts depends on funding, officials said Saturday at the annual Durham/Orange Legislative Breakfast for Mental Health. ... The state-mandated reform, which the General Assembly enacted in 2001, is intended to change local mental health agencies into contract overseers, who would not provide direct assistance but instead work much the way managed-care companies do, by authorizing other providers to render services. The challenge is to figure out how to redirect about $2 billion to the service providers, said Lanier Cansler, deputy secretary for the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services. A variety of services should be available in a community before the health agency divests and downsizes. But in some communities, the services won't appear until money from that same downsizing becomes available..."  
  

PSI quietly joining ranks of top mental health-care firms
Story in The Tennessean - "When 2003 began, PSI had just five inpatient facilities and 700 beds. By the end of the year, it had added 18 facilities and had a total of 2,900 beds. Today, the company owns 22 inpatient psychiatric facilities and leases four more with a total of 3,200 beds in 15 states. Of those beds, 55% are for acute-care hospital patients. The rest are for patients who need longer-term residential stays. Last week, PSI signed an agreement to buy four more facilities with a total of 360 beds as part of a $47 million deal. Psychiatric Solutions also manages 43 inpatient behavioral facilities inside hospitals that are owned by others. In addition, PSI manages 11 government-owned facilities..."