Collaborative Family Healthcare Association

AHRQ Launches Website with Resources for Integrated Care in the Patient-Centered Medical Home

The Federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality announces the launch of a new website devoted to providing objective information to policymakers and researchers on the patient centered medical home, www.pcmh.ahrq.gov. The site also provides users with searchable access to a rich database of publications and other resources on the medical home including Integrating Mental Health Treatment Into the Patient Centered Medical Home. The paper examines the conceptual similarities in and differences between the PCMH and current strategies used to deliver mental health treatment in primary care, presenting programmatic and policy actions needed to facilitate the integration of high-quality mental health treatment within a PCMH.

Integration and Collaboration

Secretary Sebelius Comments on Mental Health and the Importance of Integration and Collaboration

Thank you, Steve, for that introduction. Steve and I go way back. We served together on a Clinton Administration commission on improving quality in our health care system. And one of the best parts of that experience was getting to meet Steve and learn about the great work he’s doing here at Sheppard Pratt. Steve has a passion for trying to do health care better. And that’s reflected in Sheppard Pratt, which has become a model for how to provide effective mental health services, not just in this area, but in the entire country.

I also have to mention Steve’s greatest accomplishment in my opinion, which was raising an incredible son named Josh, who’s now our Principal Deputy Commissioner at the Food and Drug Association. So I have to thank Steve for that.

I also want to add my own praise for Secretary Colmers. I’m not going to try to top what Steve just said. But I can say that this fall, I’ve gotten to work closely with state health secretaries around the country on fighting the H1N1 flu. And I can tell you that Secretary Colmers is doing a great job. A couple months ago, I was up in Maryland at a school-based flu clinic. This was right at the beginning of flu season, and I was very impressed by how quickly they had this clinic set up to get kids vaccinated. So I’m a fan of Secretary Colmers’ work too.

Finally, I want to acknowledge Pam Hyde, our new Administrator for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, who’s here with me today. We stole Pam from New Mexico where she led their human services department. Some of you may know that she has more than 30 years of experience dealing with behavioral health issues in state government, city government, and as the CEO of non-profit behavioral health managed care firm. She was just sworn in last week. I don’t know if she’s had time to unpack yet. But we’ve already had the chance to get together and talk about our plans for the next few months, and I know she’s going to be a great leader for SAMHSA.

One of the things Pam and I have talked about is the huge opportunity we have in the next couple of years to make some big improvements in the lives of Americans with mental illnesses and substance abuse disorders. There are a lot of changes happening right now that could have a big impact on behavioral health: parity, health insurance reform, the growing popularity of integrated care models, an increased focus on prevention, huge gains in our understanding of the science behind mental illness and substance abuse.

Follow Up

CFHA 2009 San Diego: A Success!

This years conference in San Diego was a tremendous success for CFHA and collaborative care! The presentations this year were outstanding and many new advances in the field were made through the hard work of CFHA members. To continue discussions that began at the conference, visit our blog page HERE. CFHA is also entering into the social media fray - you can follow CFHA on Twitter using the hash tag #CFHA. You can also follow the #CFHA Twitter feed on the CFHA Blog page. New to social media and Twitter? Here is a general overview article on how to use Twitter. Many CFHA members engaged this use of technology during the conference. We also have a video recording of one of the plenary sessions that was broadcast across the Internet. This video was picked up on by many using Twitter and a new audience was exposed to CFHA.

Collaboration in Action

A Side of Behavioral Counseling with Your Visit?

The Philadelphia Inquirer

Emily Duffy, a licensed social worker, was walking down the hall of her North Philadelphia clinic last month when she heard crying in Exam Room 3. She opened the door and met Patricia Stone, 26, and her children ages 5, 3, and 2.

What happened next illustrates a paradigm shift in mental health care - seamlessly integrating what is known as behavioral health into a primary practice - that is gaining traction nationwide.

While the children underwent routine physicals, Duffy learned that the 3-year-old's father had died violently three weeks earlier.

"She may have a delayed reaction," she explained to Stone, after drawing one of the children onto her lap while blood was drawn.

Duffy, a behavioral health consultant at 11th Street Family Health Services of Drexel University, described how toddlers grieve. It was important, she said, that Stone provide consistency and keep the father's memory alive. She gave the young mother a three-page handout.

Google and PHR

Google to partner with IBM to allow consumers to add data from portable monitoring devices to PHR

WSJ

Google has announced plans to partner with IBM to allow consumers who have accounts with Google Health, an online personal health records service launched in 2007, to add data from portable monitoring devices, such as glucose and blood pressure meters, the Wall Street Journal reports. For the program, IBM will design software that consumers can use to transfer the data to their PHRs. The software will comply with standards established by the Continua Health Alliance, a large partnership of technology and medical device companies.

Sleep and the Sniffles

Susceptibility to Colds Linked to Lack of Sleep

By Rony Caryn Robin - January 13

New York Times

People who got less than seven hours of sleep a night were almost three times more likely than those who slept eight hours or more to get sick after exposure to a cold virus, a new study has found. Adults who spent a lot of time in bed tossing and turning were even more vulnerable, the researchers reported.

Overcoming poverty in Mexico

A payoff out of poverty?

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Persistent poverty has retreated from the political debate in the United States. But outside the headlines there has been a gentle evolution in thinking about the causes and cures for poverty, one that moves away from blaming capitalism and blaming the poor alike. Today, the most interesting development in that evolution — one with implications for fighting poverty around the world, including in the United States — is coming once again from Mexico, this time from the grandchildren of the children of Sánchez.

New European Study

New Panic Attacks Linked to Increased Coronary Heart Disease in Younger People

MEDSCAPE TODAY: New panic attacks or disorders are linked to an increased risk for subsequent coronary heart disease (CHD) and myocardial infarction (MI) in younger people, according to the results of a cohort study reported in the December 2 issue of the European Heart Journal.

Healthcare CEOs push reform

New Coalition Recognizes Importance of Primary Care, Medical Home

AAFP News Now: The New America Foundation has formed a coalition of health care leaders to accelerate the pace of national health care reform efforts and to create a system of care that improves quality, enhances access and reduces costs.

Spirituality

Selflessness - The Core Of All Major World Religions - Has Neuropsychological Connection, MU Study Finds

Medical News Today: All spiritual experiences are based in the brain. That statement is truer than ever before, according to a University of Missouri neuropsychologist. An MU study has data to support a neuropsychological model that proposes spiritual experiences associated with selflessness are related to decreased activity in the right parietal lobe of the brain. The study is one of the first to use individuals with traumatic brain injury to determine this connection. Researchers say the implication of this connection means people in many disciplines, including peace studies, health care or religion can learn different ways to attain selflessness, to experience transcendence, and to help themselves and others.