Behavioral Health Management articles from March 2005

Behavioral Health Management archives from March 2005

Courting a different future for people with mental illnesses.(EDITORIAL)(Editorial)
March 1, 2005... The legal and ethical issues that surround the behavioral health field are immense in this day and age, even as professionals continue to strive to provide the best care to consumers. Practices such as the incarceration of juveniles with mental...

Behavioral health must recognize the importance of religion.(GUEST EDITORIAL)
March 1, 2005... The Gallup Organization has polled U.S. citizens for more than 40 years and has seen a consistent reflection of religious or spiritual orientation among Americans. For example, the number of people who indicate they believe in God has remained...

Deconstructing the budget.(WASHINGTON INSIGHTS)
March 1, 2005... The dictionary defines "deconstruction" as an analytic approach that questions language's ability to represent rality. Scholars who practice deconstructionism look for hidden meanings in literature and films that reveal the creator's real...

Envisioning EAP's future by reflecting on its past.(IN RETROSPECT)(employee assistance programs)
March 1, 2005... Attempting to predict the future is fraught with danger for those who dare attempt it. Some of us may be old enough to remember in the late 1970s when the sociological concern for life at the turn of the new millennium was that advances in...

Suicide risk management: foreseeing future problems: proper documentation helps to avoid costly litigation.(Cover Story)
March 1, 2005... Patient suicide is the most frequently identifiable cause if loss in claims and lawsuits against behavioral healthcare providers. Providers sometimes believe they are expected to predict suicide. Fortunately, this is not the case. Liability is...

Biotechnology to improve patients' medication compliance: many obstacles hinder patients from taking medications as directed. Science is finding ways to overcome them.
March 1, 2005... The importance of patient compliance is universally recognized among participants at every level of the medical care network, from physicians and allied health professionals, to corporate executives and managed care specialists, to the patients...

Helping the patient with traumatic brain injury: Florida Institute for Neurologic Rehabilitation's care model.
March 1, 2005... Every 15 seconds someone in the United States sustains a traumatic brain injury (TBI), and an estimated 5.3 million Americans currently live with disabilities resulting from brain injuries. (1) In 1995, the estimated cost to survivors and their...

Pine Rest inpatient unit for children and adolescents is one of few in the nation: new state-of-the-art facility increases quality of care.(Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services, Grand Rapids, Michigan)(Advertisement)
March 1, 2005... When youngsters between the ages of four and seventeen enter the new inpatient Child and Adolescent Unit for treatment at Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services in Grand Rapids, Michigan, they discover a colorful, tranquil environment that...

Myths and facts about bullying in schools: effective interventions depend upon debunking long-held misconceptions.
March 1, 2005... Bullying among schoolchildren is receiving a lot of public attention. The news media implicates bullying as a reason underlying serious school shooting incidents. Popular press and entertainment media, in turn, depict bullying tactics that...

Using staff surveys and issues tracking to manage IT projects.(VIEWS ON TECHNOLOGY)(information technology)
March 1, 2005... Most behavioral health IT vendors have capable products. However, as I have found, what differentiates successful installations from unsuccessful ones can almost always be attributed to the implementation process rather than the actual...

Medicaid at 40: truly over the hill?(AS I SEE IT)
March 1, 2005... I know firsthand the hell of mental illness, and I've seen my friends' and family members' lives destroyed by mental health and substance abuse issues. A 40-year-old friend of mine is back living with his parents as a result of his struggle...

Study data show improved cognitive function in elderly patients treated with Cymbalta for depression.(PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT)
March 1, 2005... Elderly patients with depression treated with Lilly's Cymbalta[R] (duloxetine hydro-chloride), 60 mg once daily, had twice as much improvement in verbal learning and recalling information than those given a sugar pill, according to research...

Drug testing guide.(PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Now in its 13th edition, the 2004-05 edition of the Guide to State and Federal Drug- Testing Laws is a two-volume, 1,028-page compendium intended for employers, attorneys, human resources professionals, labor officials, medical review officers,...

Maximum software RFP distribution.(PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT)(request for proposal)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2005... Contact the major companies of the behavioral health software industry in one e-mail. Send your information-technology-related RFPs to the Software and Technology Vendors' Association (SATVA) for posting on its Web site's members-only page....

Tips for the administrator.(VIEWS FROM THE TRENCHES)
March 1, 2005... I don't pretend to know how executive directors run their agencies, but I am aware that many pay a fair amount to learn. Most want effective tools to run their facilities. I came across several publications brimming with helpful hints, and...