Advancing Care with Advanced Technology (Adobe Acrobat format)
As we have been preparing for our second annual IIMHL leadership exchange the week of May 17, 2004 in the US, we have noticed that there is quite a bit of interest in the issues of electronic clinical records and the usage of these systems to provide individualized recovery plans. We are presenting our first feature article from an IIMHL member regarding how they are developing and using technology to design an electronic record. The organisation is Centerstone from Nashville, Tenn. and if you wish to follow up I would suggest that you contact Ramona Rhodes at ramona.rhodes@centerstone.org. Centerstone is also testing a system that allows consumers to access their records electronically.
Monday, April 05, 2004
Health News Digest story reprinted at PsycPORT - "Quality improvement programs that encouraged depressed patients to undergo standard treatments for depression (psychotherapy or antidepressant medication) and gave them and their doctors up-to-date information and resources to increase access to treatments reduced depression rates among African Americans and Hispanics 5 years after the start of the 6 to 12 month programs. The study, supported by the National Institute of Mental Health and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, is published in the April issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry."
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A report in Adobe Acrobat format available at the Open Minds web site - "NAMI’s Policy Research Institute convened a Task Force on Research, including experts in mental illness research along with consumer, family, and provider stakeholders. Their charge was to identify ways in which serious mental illness treatment could be rapidly improved. The Task Force concluded that dramatic improvements in patients’ lives could be realized in the next ten years if research was expanded and the treatment system reformed and brought into closer alignment with research."
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A Medscape Neurology & Neurosurgery Expert Column by Lynn R. Webster - "The prevalence of opiate abuse among patients with chronic pain is unknown but is believed to be no greater than the prevalence of opiate abuse in the general population. Some studies disagree and estimate the danger of addiction or abuse for pain patients to be higher than the norm. Other medical literature has put the prevalence of addictive disorders among patients who sustain major trauma as high as 60%. Despite the common use of opioid analgesics in the treatment of chronic pain, considerable fear exists among physicians that prescribing opioid drugs may contribute to opiate abuse or addiction..." [Viewing Medscape resources requires registration, which is free].
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Medscape Conference Coverage, based on selected sessions by Elizabeth Howell at the The State of the Art in Addiction Medicine conference last October 30 - November 1, including the Keynote Address, Addiction and Reward Circuitry in the Brain, Treatment of Nicotine and Opioid Dependence, Behavioral Parameters of Reward Incentives, Motivation Therapy, and Addiction and Behavioral Economics. [Viewing Medscape resources requires registration, which is free].
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Item in the latest issue of the CMHA newsletter Mental Health Notes - "The GROW Program of the Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region has been recognized by the Health Quality Council of Saskatchewan for improving the level of care for people who are being treated as inpatients and have personality disorders. GROW (Goals, Reframe, Options and Wellness) was developed to respond to the needs of people who were hospitalized for psychiatric disorders such as major depression but who often did worse in hospital because they also had a personality disorder..."
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Copyright 2003 © Bill Davis.
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