Webhealth
Webhealth has been specifically developed to provide access for people to
connect with Health and Social Services. This web-based approach builds on
the strengths of people and families to determine their support needs. Within the Webhealth website is Linkage. Linkage is a
partnership between an NGO, Pathways; primary health care, Pinnacle; and a
secondary provider/hospital, Health Waikato. It offers early intervention
services with a “one stop shop” in central Hamilton and New Plymouth.
Wednesday, February 18, 2004
Rewarding Results: Improving the Quality of Treatment for People With Alcohol and Drug Problems
A December 2002 report (in Adobe Acrobat format) now available at the Join Together web site - " In December 2002, Join Together convened a national, non-partisan panel of experts and asked them to develop specific recommendations to improve the treatment of substance use disorders. The panel's primary recommendation is that purchasers of treatment services should reward results -- an idea that is very consistent with other leading edge efforts to improve the quality of health care for other diseases. The report outlines the reasoning behind this recommendation and the changes in measurement and accountability that will need to be established to implement a results-based reimbursement system. The panel also makes specific recommendations to payers and providers about the steps they should take to shift to a system that recognizes and rewards the providers who consistently deliver better treatment outcomes."
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A December 2002 report (in Adobe Acrobat format) now available at the Join Together web site - " In December 2002, Join Together convened a national, non-partisan panel of experts and asked them to develop specific recommendations to improve the treatment of substance use disorders. The panel's primary recommendation is that purchasers of treatment services should reward results -- an idea that is very consistent with other leading edge efforts to improve the quality of health care for other diseases. The report outlines the reasoning behind this recommendation and the changes in measurement and accountability that will need to be established to implement a results-based reimbursement system. The panel also makes specific recommendations to payers and providers about the steps they should take to shift to a system that recognizes and rewards the providers who consistently deliver better treatment outcomes."
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Early Treatment May Prevent High-Risk Patients From Progressing to Psychosis
Medscape Medical News story - "Early treatment may prevent high-risk patients with subthreshold symptoms from progressing to the first episode of psychosis (FEP), according to a presentation at the International Congress on Biological Psychiatry meeting held in Sydney, Australia, from Feb. 9-13. The results of this randomized controlled trial also were published in 2002 in the Archives of General Psychiatry..." "med"
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Medscape Medical News story - "Early treatment may prevent high-risk patients with subthreshold symptoms from progressing to the first episode of psychosis (FEP), according to a presentation at the International Congress on Biological Psychiatry meeting held in Sydney, Australia, from Feb. 9-13. The results of this randomized controlled trial also were published in 2002 in the Archives of General Psychiatry..." "med"
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Erasing Racial Data Erased Report's Truth
Opinion column in the Los Angeles Times by M. Gregg Bloche, who teaches law and health policy at Georgetown and Johns Hopkins universities - "Do black Americans receive poorer healthcare than whites? Two years ago, a National Academy of Sciences panel on which I served concluded that the answer was yes. At the behest of Congress, we had reviewed hundreds of research studies, gathered diverse views and issued a report documenting widespread racial disparity in dispensing medical care. ... But this report was never published. In its place, the Department of Health and Human Services issued a cheery rewrite touting administration successes and asserting that claims of minority groups receiving worse care than whites were unproved." [Viewing Los Angeles Times stories requires registration, which is free].
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Opinion column in the Los Angeles Times by M. Gregg Bloche, who teaches law and health policy at Georgetown and Johns Hopkins universities - "Do black Americans receive poorer healthcare than whites? Two years ago, a National Academy of Sciences panel on which I served concluded that the answer was yes. At the behest of Congress, we had reviewed hundreds of research studies, gathered diverse views and issued a report documenting widespread racial disparity in dispensing medical care. ... But this report was never published. In its place, the Department of Health and Human Services issued a cheery rewrite touting administration successes and asserting that claims of minority groups receiving worse care than whites were unproved." [Viewing Los Angeles Times stories requires registration, which is free].
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Antidepressants found ineffective on teenagers (Canada)
Story in the Globe and Mail (Toronto) - "Widely used antidepressant drugs prescribed to tens of thousands of Canadian teens and children are barely more effective than placebos in treating adolescent depression, according to a leading Canadian expert in the field. The assertion by psychiatrist Jane Garland follows a recent cascade of critical information questioning the risk and effectiveness of prescribing antidepressant medication for troubled young patients..." See also Garland's article in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, Facing the evidence: antidepressant treatment in children and adolescents (also available in Adobe Acrobat format).
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Story in the Globe and Mail (Toronto) - "Widely used antidepressant drugs prescribed to tens of thousands of Canadian teens and children are barely more effective than placebos in treating adolescent depression, according to a leading Canadian expert in the field. The assertion by psychiatrist Jane Garland follows a recent cascade of critical information questioning the risk and effectiveness of prescribing antidepressant medication for troubled young patients..." See also Garland's article in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, Facing the evidence: antidepressant treatment in children and adolescents (also available in Adobe Acrobat format).
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New Options for Dual Diagnosis Patients
NIAA press release at the About Mental Health web site - " Individuals who have co-existing alcohol-use and psychiatric disorders must overcome a number of significant hurdles on their way to recovery: multiple health and social problems, double the stigma, a poor response to traditional treatments, a lack of joint treatment options, and a chronic cycle of treatment entry and re-entry. Symposium proceedings published in the February 2004 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research examine treatment options for this group, with a focus on four major psychiatric disorders: social anxiety disorder, depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia."
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NIAA press release at the About Mental Health web site - " Individuals who have co-existing alcohol-use and psychiatric disorders must overcome a number of significant hurdles on their way to recovery: multiple health and social problems, double the stigma, a poor response to traditional treatments, a lack of joint treatment options, and a chronic cycle of treatment entry and re-entry. Symposium proceedings published in the February 2004 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research examine treatment options for this group, with a focus on four major psychiatric disorders: social anxiety disorder, depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia."
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Court Upholds Judges' Right to Compel Medication (New York)
New York Times story - "The state's highest court on Tuesday upheld the constitutionality of a law that gives judges authority to force mentally ill people to comply with treatment. The statute, commonly known as Kendra's Law, was originally passed in 1999 after Kendra Webdale, 32, was killed when she was thrown in front of an oncoming subway train. The assailant was a man who had been found to be schizophrenic and prone to violence, but who did not take his antipsychotic medicine. By passing the law, New York joined nearly 40 other states that had similar statutes, the state's Court of Appeals said in its decision..." [Viewing New York Times resources requires registration, which is free].
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New York Times story - "The state's highest court on Tuesday upheld the constitutionality of a law that gives judges authority to force mentally ill people to comply with treatment. The statute, commonly known as Kendra's Law, was originally passed in 1999 after Kendra Webdale, 32, was killed when she was thrown in front of an oncoming subway train. The assailant was a man who had been found to be schizophrenic and prone to violence, but who did not take his antipsychotic medicine. By passing the law, New York joined nearly 40 other states that had similar statutes, the state's Court of Appeals said in its decision..." [Viewing New York Times resources requires registration, which is free].
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Copyright 2003 © Bill Davis.
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