Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly articles from October 2011

Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly archives from October 2011

Finding an EHR vendor: mistakes are costly, and questions about confidentiality linger.(electronic health records)
October 31, 2011... Treatment providers need to do their homework before signing up with a vendor for electronic health records, or they could lose money and not have a system that works well. Caveat emptor--consumer be-ware--is the message of H. Westley Clark,...

Basic cell phone technology seen as recovery boost in conn. center.(Treatment Program Profile)
October 31, 2011... One of the largest nonprofit addiction treatment organizations in Connecticut thinks that a technology that some centers believe causes a distraction to clients will actually prove to become a lifeline to recovery for the individuals it serves....

Oral fluids: the specimen of the future for drug testing.
October 31, 2011... The federal government is close to issuing guidelines that will direct how drugged driving laws are writ-ten and enforced in this country. After decades of study, oral fluids will be the specimen of choice for deter-mining whether drivers are...

Video-conferencing coming soon to Oklahoma substance abuse providers.(Brief article)
October 31, 2011... The statewide video-conferencing technology implemented for mental health providers in the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (ODMHSAS) is coming to substance abuse treatment providers at the end of this year. The...

NIAAA sums up technologies used in treating alcohol abuse.(National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism)
October 31, 2011... Online screeners are the main type of technology used in assessing problem drinking, according to an article published in the current issue of Alcohol Research and Health, the journal published by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and...

Drug court to use Skype technology.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Brief article)
October 31, 2011... Pierce County Drug Court in Washington State is using Skype Internet technology to help with hearings for participants attending treatment outside the county, the Tacoma Daily Index reported Oct. 5. Skype, an internet-based real-time telephone...

New mobile app from Magellan helps find providers.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Brief article)
October 31, 2011... This month Magellan Health Services launched an iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad application that can help individuals find a substance abuse or mental health care provider. The "My Provider Locator" app is for people accessing Magellan's behavioral...

School uses cloud-based video conferencing for groups for deaf.(BRIEFLY NOTED)
October 31, 2011... Wright State University in Ohio has developed a program to help people who are deaf or hard of hearing participate in substance abuse group counseling. Unlike other online options, cloud videoconferencing--with a company called Nefsis in this...

Urgent: health insurance exchange alert.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Brief article)
October 31, 2011... Submit comments by Monday, October 31 to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services to ensure that health insurance exchanges include substance use disorder and mental health provisions. The proposed rule for the exchanges does not identify...

Coming up ...(Calendar)
October 31, 2011... The 35th national conference of the Association for Medical Education and Research in Substance Abuse (AMERSA) will be held November 3-5 in Arlington, Virginia. Go to www.amersa.org/conf.asp for more information. The American Academy of...

In case you haven't heard ...(Brief article)
October 31, 2011... In New York, drunk drivers may have to wear an ankle bracelet, use interlock ignition devices, and if they are driving drunk with a child under 16 in the car, they will be charged with a felony. But the state has found that another type of...

South Dakota: more secrecy from the state, more fear among providers.
October 24, 2011... The level of fear among substance abuse providers in South Dakota has increased over the past few weeks, despite promises by the state made to ADAW that it would reach out to this group (see ADAW, August 8). After a meeting last month with the...

Holistic-model center diversifies further under new ownership.(Treatment Program Profile)
October 24, 2011... Founder Lee McCormick and his family established The Ranch in the rolling hills southwest of Nashville because they wanted to offer addiction treatment clients a clinical setting with a broader perspective on recovery and spirituality. A...

SAMHSA awards $22.5 million for SA prevention; South Dakota uses for MI and SA prevention.
October 24, 2011... Last month the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration made $22.5 million in grant awards for substance abuse prevention. According to the September 26 press release announcing the 46 awards, that is all they are for. "The...

Prevention money going from substance abuse to mental illness.
October 24, 2011... As the substance abuse field watches with increasing concern the emerging field of mental health promotion and mental illness prevention is threatening to take some of the funding away from substance abuse prevention. The intent to create one...

Illinois providers try to reclaim most of unintended 26-percent cut.(State Budget Watch)
October 24, 2011... Last week a star-studded community forum in Chicago focused on the effectiveness of substance abuse prevention and treatment, even as state providers are having to lay people off and close facilities due to a 26 percent cut that took effect July...

CSAT advises OTPs on participation in PDMPs.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Center for Substance Abuse Treatment)(opioid treatment programs)(prescription drug monitoring programs)(Brief article)
October 24, 2011... Last month the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) of the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration recommended that opioid treatment programs (OTPs) find out about their patients' prescription drug use via access to...

Heroin up in Illinois ...(IN THE STATES)(Brief article)
October 24, 2011... Heroin arrests--an early indicator of abuse--are up, and in Illinois, there is concern about young people switching from prescription opioid abuse to heroin, even as treatment services for these people are increasingly unavailable. "Prescription...

... in Oregon ...(IN THE STATES)(heroin abuse in Oregon)(Brief article)
October 24, 2011... In Oregon, heroin is called the "new methamphetamine" as heroin related arrests in Coos County rose to 41 last year, up from two five years ago. Heroin is less expensive than many prescription opioids, and also gives more intense euphoria, the...

... and in New Mexico.(IN THE STATES)(heorin abuse in New Mexico)(Brief article)
October 24, 2011... Opium is grown in Mexico, and the heroin markets of nextdoor New Mexico are targets for traffickers. According to a 2011 study commissioned by the City of Albuquerque, 4.7 percent of New Mexico high schoolers have used heroin, compared with 2.5...

Federal prosecutors: Calif. 'medical marijuana' a front for drug dealing.(IN THE STATES)(Brief article)
October 24, 2011... "The California marijuana industry is not about providing medicine to the sick," says Laura Duffy, the U.S. attorney in San Diego. "It's a pervasive for-profit industry that violates federal law." This month the Justice Department began a...

Coming up ...(conference, meeting and symposium of the Association for Medical Education and Research in Substance Abuse and the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry)(Brief article)
October 24, 2011... The 35th national conference of the Association for Medical Education and Research in Substance Abuse (AMERSA) will be held November 3-5 in Arlington, Virginia. Go to www.amersa.org/conf.asp for more information. The American Academy of...

In case you haven't heard ...(www.drugfactsweek.com, a parody of the National Institute on Drug Abuse's website)(Brief article)
October 24, 2011... The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has been planning for weeks its National Drug Facts Week, starting October 31, including a website that is full of science-based information (www.nationaldrugfactsweek.gov). Last week, a site that...

IOM recommendations for benefits package: affordability first.
October 17, 2011... Affordability, not comprehensiveness, should guide the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as it determines what should be in the essential benefits package--the minimum level covered by health insurance exchanges--according to the...

San Diego center ties its future to non-government funding sources.(Treatment Program Profile)
October 17, 2011... The staircase that a visitor to the Stepping Stone of San Diego treatment center uses to proceed from the ground-floor courtyard to the second-floor residences is shaped like a woman's high heel. It is but one of many signs that this facility,...

Washington proposes eliminating all adult SA treatment.(State Budget Watch)(Substance abuse )
October 17, 2011... Washington State is proposing to eliminate all alcohol and drug abuse treatment for adults--inpatient, outpatient, and detoxification--except for those in drug court, and pregnant and parenting women (PPW). The proposed cut--$72 million from the...

Average time from first use to treatment admission: 15.6 years.(Brief article)
October 17, 2011... The average time from first use of a substance to treatment admission is 15.6 years, according to a new report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The report, released Oct. 6 and based on the Treatment...

The word 'recovery' belongs with chemical dependency.(FROM THE FIELD ...)
October 17, 2011... One of my colleagues in the chemical dependency treatment field said recently that the mental health field has stolen the word recovery. I think like most things, it's about the money. As more and more states lose designated funding for chemical...

Former Vivitrol patients sought by other mass. programs.
October 17, 2011... Former patients of Punyamurtula Kishore, M.D., whose indictment on September 30 by the Massachusetts Attorney General on Medicaid fraud charges last month resulted in the closure of his Preventive Medicine Associates (PMA) clinics across the...

Coming up ...(conferences of the American Society of Addiction Medicine and Association for Medical Education and Research in Substance Abuse)(Brief article)
October 17, 2011... The American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) will hold the 2011 Course on the State of the Art in Addiction Medicine October 27-29 in Washington, D.C. Go to www.asam.org/SOACourse.html for more information. The 35th national conference...

CRC hosts national meeting on troubled youth in Utah.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(CRC Health Group)(Brief article)
October 17, 2011... At its annual three-day conference on troubled youth in Park City, Utah last week, CRC Health Group and its subsidiary Aspen Education gathered 150 providers, educators, and interventionists to discuss substance abuse and other problems, such as...

In case you haven't heard ...(Brief article)
October 17, 2011... Candy in the shape of a marijuana leaf is raising a ruckus among politicians even though there is no illegal substance in it. Pothead lollipops and Pothead ringpops do promote marijuana legalization, according to Andrew Kalan, president of the...

Florida case highlights threat to parity by states and insurance companies.(Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida's termination of its contracts with mental health care providers)(Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008)
October 10, 2011... The Parity Implementation Coalition (PIC) is stepping up its advocacy efforts with the federal government to issue guidance on state enforcement of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA). But in the meantime, it looks as if...

Large Texas nonprofit sees balancing of funds, move to higher-level staff.(Treatment Program Profile)(Austin Recovery)
October 10, 2011... Austin Recovery is the largest non-profit chemical dependency treatment provider in central Texas and has been in business since 1967, but its relatively new chief executive termed the organization a "well-kept secret" over much of its history....

Arizona says system is 'stable'; providers cite layoffs and cuts.(State Budget Watch)
October 10, 2011... Arizona, which in 2000 expanded Medicaid to everyone below 100 percent of federal poverty level including childless adults, has now closed enrollment to this population, and is seeking other cutbacks to Medicaid that will impact substance abuse...

Arizona KidsCare frozen, enrollment down 60 percent.(Brief article)
October 10, 2011... More than 120,000 children are on a waiting list for coverage by Arizona KidsCare, the state health insurance program for children, and many have no coverage at all, according to a study released last week by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the...

HHS will identify a 'path forward' on SAMHSA appropriations.(Health and Human Services )
October 10, 2011... The apparent defiance of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) in the face of critical and directive report language from the Senate appropriations committee (see ADAW, Oct. 3) prompted us to ask the Department...

Magellan gets SAMHSA award for four Arizona providers.
October 10, 2011... Magellan Health Services of Arizona has applied for and won an award for evidence-based substance abuse treatment from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The 2011 Science and Service Award for Treatment of...

OASAS commissioner has field support despite uncertain future.(IN THE STATES)(Arlene Gonzalez-Sanchez of the New York Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services)(Brief article)
October 10, 2011... Despite the fact that there is confusion swirling around the future of the New York Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS), Commissioner Arlene Gonzalez-Sanchez has the clear support of the treatment field. She hasn't had a...

Coming up ...(conference, meeting and symposium of the American Society of Addiction Medicine, Association for Medical Education and Research in Substance Abuse and the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry)(Brief article)
October 10, 2011... The American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) will hold the 2011 Course on the State of the Art in Addiction Medicine October 27-29 in Washington, D.C. Go to www.asam.org/SOACourse.html for more information. The 35th national conference...

In case you haven't heard ...(Brief article)
October 10, 2011... Most workplace drug tests don't include tests for Oxycontin or other prescription drugs, Reuters reported last week--yet these drugs are being increasingly used by employees. Oxycontin and three other prescription drugs were found at a...

Senate Appropriations Committee Rejects SAMHSA's 'New Vision'
October 3, 2011... A clearly displeased appropriations committee on September 23 directed the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to use money authorized for substance abuse for that purpose only and not to gut or dilute prevention...

Program founded to treat men stays above fray in Florida market.(Company overview)
October 3, 2011... Destination Hope, a gender-based addiction treatment organization situated in a crowded South Florida market, finds that it needs to distinguish itself on multiple levels. Its CEO says the center emphasizes the principles it was founded on as...

Other Appropriations Issues: Workforce, NIDA Blending, and Re-Entry
October 3, 2011... * Addiction Services Workforce: The Senate appropriations committee covering the Department of Health and Human Services directed the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), as the "lead federal agency charged with...

Arrest of owner and closing of Vivitrol clinics raises OD fears.
October 3, 2011... The story of Punyamurtula Kishore, M.D., whose clinics provided Vivitrol treatment to patients across Massachusetts until a state investigation led to his arrest this month (see ADAW, Sept. 26), has created a possible public health crisis with...

Non-12-step addiction treatment.(FROM THE FIELD...)(Report)
October 3, 2011... Two years ago some of our residential treatment clients at Stepping Stone of San Diego approached the staff with a question. Are there anything else besides Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous meetings available, and, if so, could the...

Former ONDCP senior advisor on marijuana and harm reduction.
October 3, 2011... This month's revelation in the National Survey on Drug use and Health that marijuana use is increasing among youth (see ADAW, Sept. 12) was not a surprise to Kevin Sabet, until last week senior advisor at the Office of National Drug Control...

Most young marijuana users get drug from friends: SAMHSA.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Report)(Brief article)
October 3, 2011... Of the 523,000 young people ages 12 to 14 who used marijuana at least once in the past year, 70 per-cent got it for free from a friend or family member--mostly from a friend--according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services...

Bath salts combine effects of LSD and PCP.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(Lysergic acid diethylamide)(Brief article)
October 3, 2011... Bath salts are like a combination of LSD, which produces hallucinogenic effects, and PCP, which can produce superhuman strength, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported last month. "It's not like it's just a bad drug, it's a superbad drug," said...

Mass. may create $25 million gambling treatment fund.(IN THE STATES)(Brief article)
October 3, 2011... The Massachusetts legislature is considering a bill that create casinos and at the same time would support prevention treatment for gambling addiction, a proposal that has the support of the Massachusetts Council on Compulsive Gambling, and...

Coming up ...(Conference news)
October 3, 2011... The American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) will hold the 2011 Course on the State of the Art in Addiction Medicine October 27-29 in Washington, D.C. Go to www.asam.org/SOACourse.html for more information. The 35th national conference...

In case you haven't heard ...(Brief article)
October 3, 2011... Nicotine may make the list of drugs that are banned in sports, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) said last week, according to The Associated Press. Its accredited laboratory finds "alarming evidence" of nicotine use by athletes in all 43...