March 2012

A report on events affecting Oklahoma providers

March 1 - 31

National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month

Prevent Cancer Foundation

March 1 - 31

National Endometriosis Awareness Month

Endometriosis Association

March 1 - 31

Save Your Vision Month

American Optometric Association

March 1 - 31

Trisomy Awareness Month

Support Organization for Trisomy 18, 13 & Related Disorders

March 1 - 31

Workplace Eye Wellness Month

Prevent Blindness America

March 1 - 31

National Nutrition Month®

American Dietetic Association

March 5 - 9

National School Breakfast Week

School Nutrition Association

March 8

World Kidney Day

National Kidney Foundation

March 5 - 11

National Sleep Awareness Week

National Sleep Foundation

March 10

National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day

Office on Women’s Health

March 12 - 14

NAPHS Annual Meeting

National Association of Psychiatric Health Systems

Washington, DC

More Information

March 12 - 18

Brain Awareness Week

Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives

March 16 - 19

Annual Meeting

American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry

More Information

March 18 - 24

National Poison Prevention Week

Poison Prevention Week Council

March 19 - 25

RSS Training

Oklahoma City, OK

More Information

March 20

National Native American HIV/AIDS Awareness Day

National Native American AIDS Prevention Center

March 20 - 21

2M2L Training

Woodward, OK

More Information

March 21 - 23

Summit 2012

ACMHA-The College for Behavioral Health Leadership

More Information

March 21 - 24

National Conference on Juvenile and Family Law

National Council of Juvenile and Family Law Judges

More Information

March 22 - 23

Case Mgmt Training

Oklahoma City, OK

More Information

March 22 - 25

Symposium 2012

International Association of Eating Disorders Professionals

More Information

March 23

ODMHSAS Board Meeting

Oklahoma City, OK

More Information

March 24

World Tuberculosis Day

Stop TB Partnership

World Health Organization

March 25 - 31

National Tsunami Awareness Week

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

March 27

American Diabetes Alert Day

American Diabetes Association

March 27

ODAPCA 1st Annual Prevention Conference

Norman, OK

More Information

March 27 - 28

2M2L Training

Tahlequah

More Information

March 29 - 30

SOC Wraparound Training

Tulsa, OK

More Information

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Practice Management Insight

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First Generic Lexapro gets FDA Approval

Since it was approved by the FDA in 2002, Lexapro (escitalopram) has become a widely prescribed medication to treat both depression and generalized anxiety disorder in adults. Yesterday, the agency approved the first generic version of the drug…

[read article]

Report shows 7.5 million children live with a parent with an alcohol use disorder

A new report shows 7.5 million children under age 18 lived with a parent who has experienced an alcohol use disorder in the past year…

[read article]

Studies have demonstrated that an individual's mind drifts off to unrelated thoughts regardless of what they are doing half of the time...

[read article]

Working Memory Capacity And The Wandering Mind

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is making available new online shared decision-making (SDM) tools that provide a valuable interactive, collaborative connection between individuals and their health care providers.  Through SDM, consumers work with their behavioral health care providers to make informed health care decisions best suited to achieving their own successful path to recovery...

[read article]

SAMHSA Provides New Online Tools for Consumers and Providers of Mental Health Services to Make Informed Treatment Decisions

How to manage anxiety

with a four-letter word

John Lennon said, "Work is life, you know, and without it there's nothing but fear and insecurity." Employment, whether it's competitive or supported is an essential ingredient to recovery from a psychiatric disability.  I am referring to more than a job, but a career, a vocation, a 'calling' if you will. In leading and overseeing the development of peer support groups I have a lot of interesting conversations. Once we get past the 'label game' (my name is Steve and I have bipolar) and psych medications 101 (Depakote turned me into the Goodyear Blimp), and the discussion about how long it takes to get Medicaid or disability benefits....then slowly, but surely a good facilitator will help peers zero in on what's really important in our lives as people. A consumer quoted in a job development booklet published by the Canadian Mental Health Association puts the needs of all human beings into one simple sentence; "Real recovery means to have a home, a job and a friend…”

[read article]

Making EDI Standardization

a Priority in 2012

‘Stone age’ reporting methods sap providers and drain service resources.

Behavioral health and social service providers have been dealing with a plethora of non-standard reporting forms and funder requirements for decades. These continue today despite the fact that more providers are adopting electronic health record systems and the need for interoperability with primary care providers is growing.

Why isn’t our field pursuing electronic data interchange (EDI) standardization?

Before I got involved in the field of behavioral health, I worked in the financial services sector, a field that like so many others embraces technology as a means to enhance efficiency, improve communication, and create new opportunities. Because that field embraced digital communication standards long ago, it is possible for the average American to purchase a share of Toyota on the Tokyo Stock Exchange despite major differences in geography, infrastructure, currency and language. Billions of dollars in trades such as this move markets every day, without paperwork, phone calls, faxes or follow-ups.

All of this enables me to sit down at my computer in New York and trade Toyota stock on the Tokyo exchange within minutes. Afterwards, all the necessary reporting data is automatically submitted to the SEC and Japan’s Financial Services Agency through electronic data interchange.

This brings me to a question:  If we’ve created such efficient international financial markets, why can’t behavioral health and human services funders and providers electronically exchange information within the same state?   [read article]

The National Association of Psychiatric Health Systems (NAPHS) Board of Trustees this week made recommendations in key policy areas that have the potential to significantly improve the lives of individuals with mental and additive disorders…

[read article]

Will managed behavioral health programs soon be extinct?

Rather, we are on the verge of another major change in care management models for behavioral health…

[read article]

“Managed Behavioral Care” Evolves

NAPHS Board Identifies Three Key Policy Areas for Consumers

SAMHSA and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation are collaborating on a $1 million effort targeting the behavioral health needs of youth in contact with the juvenile justice system.  The project is aimed at diverting youth with behavioral health conditions from the juvenile justice system to community-based programs and services…

[read article]

Collaboration to Address Behavioral Health Needs in Juvenile Justice System