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.
Thursday, April 15, 2004
NAMI Fact Sheets: "Spending Money in all the Wrong Places"
Resources at the NAMI web site - " In conjunction with the Campaign for the Mind of America, the NAMI Policy Research Institute has created six fact sheets dedicated to pressing social issues. These fact sheets illustrate the enormous financial impact of these issues and the role of mental illness in compounding their economic and social impact. The fact sheets aim to encourage legislators to support solutions that assist people with mental illnesses and decrease the overall economic burden of these social problems." Included are Adobe Acrobat fact sheets on Homelessness, Unemployment, School Failure, Jails and Prisons, Emergency Departments and The Uninsured.
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Resources at the NAMI web site - " In conjunction with the Campaign for the Mind of America, the NAMI Policy Research Institute has created six fact sheets dedicated to pressing social issues. These fact sheets illustrate the enormous financial impact of these issues and the role of mental illness in compounding their economic and social impact. The fact sheets aim to encourage legislators to support solutions that assist people with mental illnesses and decrease the overall economic burden of these social problems." Included are Adobe Acrobat fact sheets on Homelessness, Unemployment, School Failure, Jails and Prisons, Emergency Departments and The Uninsured.
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Judges Defend Rights of Pennsylvania Mentally Ill
AP story at Yahoo - "Pennsylvania is committing a 'gross injustice' by keeping hundreds of mentally ill people in state psychiatric hospitals when they could get better treatment in less restrictive settings such as group homes, a federal appeals court says. The state Department of Public Welfare needs a plan to discharge patients more quickly once they are well enough to be treated in a community setting, a three-judge panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appealssaid Tuesday in a class-action lawsuit..."
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AP story at Yahoo - "Pennsylvania is committing a 'gross injustice' by keeping hundreds of mentally ill people in state psychiatric hospitals when they could get better treatment in less restrictive settings such as group homes, a federal appeals court says. The state Department of Public Welfare needs a plan to discharge patients more quickly once they are well enough to be treated in a community setting, a three-judge panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appealssaid Tuesday in a class-action lawsuit..."
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Pramipexole Shows Promise for Treatment-Resistant Bipolar Depression
Reuters Health story at Medscape - "Pramipexole seems to be a safe and effective therapy for treatment-resistant bipolar depression, but larger studies are needed to confirm this finding, new research suggests..." [Viewing Medscape resources requires registration, which is free].
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Reuters Health story at Medscape - "Pramipexole seems to be a safe and effective therapy for treatment-resistant bipolar depression, but larger studies are needed to confirm this finding, new research suggests..." [Viewing Medscape resources requires registration, which is free].
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As Tech Spreads, Hippocrates Dawdles
Column in the Washington Post by Steven Pearlstein - "...In terms of information technology, the health care industry is now about where the auto industry was in 1980. This problem is at the heart of why the United States spends way more than any other industrialized country for health care with very little to show for it in terms of better health. If we could solve it, we could avoid tens of thousands of deaths each year from medical errors and save much of the estimated $150 billion wasted on unnecessary paperwork and medical procedures..."
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Column in the Washington Post by Steven Pearlstein - "...In terms of information technology, the health care industry is now about where the auto industry was in 1980. This problem is at the heart of why the United States spends way more than any other industrialized country for health care with very little to show for it in terms of better health. If we could solve it, we could avoid tens of thousands of deaths each year from medical errors and save much of the estimated $150 billion wasted on unnecessary paperwork and medical procedures..."
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US children get uneven health care, report finds
Reuters story - "U.S. children are not getting the best health care and are often given inappropriate drugs and untested treatments, according to a report published on Thursday. The report from the Commonwealth Fund also found large disparities in care for children, based on geography as well as on ethnic group and income. ... The report estimated that 79 percent of children with serious mental health problems got no evaluation or treatment and that 7.5 million children failed to get needed mental health care." The full 134 page report is available at the Commonwealth Fund web site in Adobe Acrobat format.
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Reuters story - "U.S. children are not getting the best health care and are often given inappropriate drugs and untested treatments, according to a report published on Thursday. The report from the Commonwealth Fund also found large disparities in care for children, based on geography as well as on ethnic group and income. ... The report estimated that 79 percent of children with serious mental health problems got no evaluation or treatment and that 7.5 million children failed to get needed mental health care." The full 134 page report is available at the Commonwealth Fund web site in Adobe Acrobat format.
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Connecticut Supreme Court upholds psychiatric hospitalization law
Stamford Advocate story - "The state's highest court on Thursday unanimously upheld a law allowing people acquitted of crimes by reason of insanity to be held indefinitely in psychiatric hospitals, even after their court-ordered commitments are complete. The 7-0 ruling found that the law does not violate constitutional protections against equal protection and due process violations. Officials can balance a mentally ill person's right to liberty against the state's interest in public safety, the court held..."
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Stamford Advocate story - "The state's highest court on Thursday unanimously upheld a law allowing people acquitted of crimes by reason of insanity to be held indefinitely in psychiatric hospitals, even after their court-ordered commitments are complete. The 7-0 ruling found that the law does not violate constitutional protections against equal protection and due process violations. Officials can balance a mentally ill person's right to liberty against the state's interest in public safety, the court held..."
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Study: Medicaid Privatization Hurt Schizophrenics
Health Scout News story in the Atlanta Journal Constitution - "Poor schizophrenics were left out in the cold when Tennessee health officials decided to subcontract their care to save money, say researchers who warn that similar policies in other states could put others at risk. "If you need to change the financial arrangements, there should be provisions to protect these kinds of vulnerable patients," said study co-author Wayne Ray, a professor of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Sixteen states subcontract -- or "carve out" -- Medicaid mental-health services, which provide medical services for the poor. Tennessee transferred its mental health services to two HMOs in 1996, paying them a fixed amount for each patient regardless of how serious his or her condition was...." The study's findings are reported in the May 8 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
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Health Scout News story in the Atlanta Journal Constitution - "Poor schizophrenics were left out in the cold when Tennessee health officials decided to subcontract their care to save money, say researchers who warn that similar policies in other states could put others at risk. "If you need to change the financial arrangements, there should be provisions to protect these kinds of vulnerable patients," said study co-author Wayne Ray, a professor of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Sixteen states subcontract -- or "carve out" -- Medicaid mental-health services, which provide medical services for the poor. Tennessee transferred its mental health services to two HMOs in 1996, paying them a fixed amount for each patient regardless of how serious his or her condition was...." The study's findings are reported in the May 8 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
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Hospital in partnership trial to improve mental health care (UK)
Brief Huddersfield Daily Examiner story on the South West Yorkshire Mental Health Trust, one of four UK trusts selected to take part in a new project - "The Mental Health Improvement Partnership aims to improve every patient's experience of mental health and learning disability. Being part of the trial will attract more money and will bring expert support tailored to meet the needs of the district. The outcome will influence the development of a national strategy for 2005 and 2006, when it is intended to develop similar Mental Health Improvement Partnerships across the country..."
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Brief Huddersfield Daily Examiner story on the South West Yorkshire Mental Health Trust, one of four UK trusts selected to take part in a new project - "The Mental Health Improvement Partnership aims to improve every patient's experience of mental health and learning disability. Being part of the trial will attract more money and will bring expert support tailored to meet the needs of the district. The outcome will influence the development of a national strategy for 2005 and 2006, when it is intended to develop similar Mental Health Improvement Partnerships across the country..."
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Copyright 2003 © Bill Davis.
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