Tuesday, May 04, 2004

MHMR develops model program (Texas)
Kerrville Daily Times story - "A financial crisis at the Hill Country Community Mental Health and Mental Retardation Center has brought sweeping changes to the entire Texas mental health system. ... Hill Country MHMR has developed ... a new model of how to do business and treat patients — what they call a disease management approach to the delivery of mental health services. On the business side, the center focused on efficiency, mandating five and a half hours every day for patients and allowing workers to spend the remaining two and a half hours on paperwork and meetings. On the clinical side, they developed a therapy-based program for clients that assessed how much help MHMR clients needed to help them function. That therapy includes medicine, behavioral therapy and helping a patient take control of his own wellness. ... All of this change attracted the attention of State Rep. John Davis, R-Houston, who filed a bill last spring that mandated the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation to implement the Hill Country’s disease management program in all of its centers."