A Synthesis of the Evidence: Non-Pharmacological Interventions for Behavioral Symptoms of Dementia
It is estimated that more than half a million Veterans suffer from dementia and behavioral symptoms occur in as many as 90% of people with Alzheimer’s disease.Psychotropic medications are commonly used to reduce the frequency and severity of behavioral symptoms of dementia. Little evidence that such interventions are effective, and the potential side effects are frequent and often hazardous. Therefore, non-pharmacological interventions may be a good alternative.Click here to read the full report.

New Training Program
Case Management Society of America's (CMSA's) Integrated Case Management (ICM) training program includes a training Manual that contains features that fit with the integrated care approaches and tools.  

Funding opportunity
This grant will support multidisciplinary translation and implementation research to enhance adoption of evidence-based prevention, screening, detection, and treatment of substance abuse, across the age spectrum of clinical populations in primary care settings. Click here to access the full RFA.
National Drug Control Strategy
The 2011 National Drug Control Strategy has been released. The Strategy reflects the Obama Administration’s comprehensive and balanced efforts to reduce drug use and its consequences. Click here to read the 2011 Strategy’s goals, objectives and activities.

National Prevention Strategy
The National Prevention Strategy was created to focus our nation on prevention and wellness. The Strategy’s four Strategic Directions and seven Priorities include evidence-based recommendations fundamental to improving the Nation’s health. Click here for more information on the National Prevention Strategy. 

How Electronic Health Records Enable Care Coordination
Centering on the Patient: How Electronic Health Records Enable Care Coordination a new care coordination report, is now available for download after registering. Click here to read.

Medicare Federally Qualified Health Center
The Innovation Center is accepting applications from FQHC’s to participate in the Medicare Federally Qualified Health Center Advanced Primary Care Practice demonstration project. The instructions for applying and participating in the demonstration can be found here.  

3000 Health Information Technology IT Graduates for Hire
Need help staffing your health information technology activities?   HHS’ Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology funded 82 ONC community colleges that are graduating the first batch of Health information technology professionals in April.  The graduates represent mid-career professionals with backgrounds in health care or information technology.  The training provides them a background in HIT integrating their educational and work experience to provide a skilled workforce that can facilitate the implementation of electronic health care system.

Pathways to Integrated Health Care Strategies for African Americans
The report features consensus statements developed to assist establishing improvements to meaningful access to care for African American individuals and families to holistic and comprehensive behavioral and primary health care through the development of strategies that are culturally designed to meet their needs.

Recovery in Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder: Is There a Common Vision?
Recovery is a personal and individualized process of growth for which there are multiple pathways. People in recovery from either mental health problems or substance use disorders have described recovery both as a transformational and an incremental process, with recovery narratives filled with elements of both types of change. It is important that people are active agents of change in their own lives—not passive recipients of care. Click here to read the summary, view resources and suggested readings.

Funding to enhance State and Tribal Substance Abuse Treatment Service Systems
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration announces the availability of FY 2011 funds for cooperative agreements to expand and enhance State and Tribal substance abuse treatment service systems. The grants should expand the State/Tribe’s continuum of care to include screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) in general medical and other communities settings including Military, Reserve and Guard units. Click here to download the application.  

Prevention of Mental Disorders, Substance Abuse, and Problem Behaviors: A Developmental Perspective
Leading prevention experts discuss specific recommendations to focus on parenting, child development, and the prevention of depression are made for a target audience of practicing psychiatrists and mental health professionals.

A Team Approach to Patient Care Falters
New York Times blog entry on the challenges of implementing a health home model, where "for many doctors and health care experts, the future of medicine lies in transforming primary care practices into something else entirely: centers where every patient’s care is team-based, preventive and comprehensive."

Collaboration among Payers Presents Opportunities for Health Care Reform, but Challenges Remain. 
This Fund report assesses the opportunities and challenges for multipayer collaborations to be critical agents of reform in health care delivery. Fragmented markets in which providers—especially physicians—deal with multiple payers limit the power of any one payer to make meaningful changes in the shape and performance of the health care delivery system. Therefore, multipayer collaborations will be essential to the success of health care reform, according to the report. An experiment focused on transforming primary care in a five-county region of New York State has demonstrated that there is an appetite for ambitious initiatives on the part of both providers and payers under certain conditions. One of the important early lessons from this demonstration project—the Adirondack Medical Home Demonstration—is that while multipayer collaboratives are necessary to effective health system redesign and improvement, they are quite difficult to craft.
 
Creating an Integrated School Health Center Model       
A policy brief co-authored by the Integrated Behavioral Health Project that examines the process of developing a stakeholder collaborative committed to improving school communities' health, key environmental factors, the L.A. Integrated School Health Center Model Standards, identification of challenges and lessons learned, and recommendations to the field click here to read the policy brief.

Realizing Health Reform’s Potential: How the Affordable Care Act Will Strengthen Primary Care and Benefit Patients, Providers, and Payers
Although primary care is fundamental to health system performance, the United States has undervalued and underinvested in primary care for decades. This brief describes how the Affordable Care Act will begin to address the neglect of America’s primary care system and, wherever possible, estimates the potential impact these efforts will have on patients, providers, and payers. The health reform law includes numerous provisions for improving primary care: temporary increases in Medicare and Medicaid payments to primary care providers; support for innovation in the delivery of care, with an emphasis on achieving better health outcomes and patient care experiences; enhanced support of primary care providers; and investment in the continued development of the primary care workforce.
 
New AHRQ white paper
A new AHRQ white paper explores how the HITECH legislation could be harnessed to help practices operationalize and implement health information technology and support key principles of the patient-centered medical home (PCMH) to improve health care quality and efficiency.

Alameda County School Health Center System Development Lessons Learned: A County Collaboration Case Study
A report summarizing site visits and conference calls conducted by Los Angeles County stakeholders with Alameda County's School Health Services Program, identified as one of the most evolved school health center systems in California.  The report provides details of Alameda County's system, its evolution and future plans.

Medical Homes Led By Nurses
We were encouraged to see an issue of Health Affairs about reinventing primary care (May 2010). Although the issue devoted much space to the potential of medical homes, it did not tackle a topic of considerable debate: the role of nurse-led medical homes … What is needed is a balanced discussion of the potential increased access, improved quality, and cost savings that could be realized if nurse-led medical homes were fully recognized. We encourage Health Affairs, as the leader in health policy deliberations, to explore this critical challenge in a future issue. 

Mental Disorders and Medical Comorbidity
This synthesis presents the evidence of comorbid mental and medical conditions and addresses the following questions: 1. What is the rate of comorbidity between medical and mental conditions and why is it so
common? 2. What are the associated mortality, quality of care, and cost burdens of co morbidity? 3. What are the current evidence-based approaches for addressing comorbidity?

Integration of Buprenorphine Into HIV Treatment
Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes. 2011
This special supplement to the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes (JAIDS) presents 15 articles describing the results of the Buprenorphine Initiative: An Evaluation of Innovative Methods for Integrating Buprenorphine Opioid Abuse Treatment in HIV Primary Care. Topics addressed include treatment organization and delivery, patient perceptions, outcomes data, and cost and policy implications. For a table of contents or to download articles for free, click here.

Monitoring Worksheet for Patients on Second-Generation Antipsychotics
The attachedworksheet can be used to monitor protocols for individuals on second-generation antipsychotics. It was developed as a consensus statement developed through the ADA Consensus Development Conference on Antipsychotic Drugs and Obesity and Diabetes. Also access the Diabetes Care article about the consensus guidelines.

A detailed picture of New York’s Medicaid Beneficiaries with Mental and Substance Use Conditions
The report paints a detailed picture of New York's Medicaid beneficiaries receiving care for mental health and substance abuse conditions—who they are, what kind of services they regularly seek, and how they differ from or resemble other Medicaid beneficiaries not receiving the same kinds of care.

Providing Care to Medicaid Beneficiaries with Behavioral Health Conditions: Challenges for New York
The report found that the rates for hypertension, heart disease, and asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD),are about 30 percent to 60 percent higher than those of non-MH beneficiaries. The authors draw heavily from a supporting data report that paints a detailed picture of New York Medicaid beneficiaries with behavioral health conditions.

Integrating Mental Health Treatment into the Patient Centered Medical Home
This paper from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) identifies the conceptual similarities in and differences between the PCMH and current strategies used to deliver mental health treatment in primary care. Even though adoption of the PCMH has the potential to enhance delivery of mental health treatment in primary care, several programmatic and policy actions are needed to facilitate integration of high-quality mental health treatment within a PCMH.  

Movilizandonos por Nuestro Futuro: Strategic Development of a Mental Health Workforce for Latinos
The Strategic Development of a Mental Health Workforce for Latinos  was prepared by the US Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Minority Health and the National Resource Center for Hispanic Mental Health. The report provides consensus statements, numerous recommendations, and action items to serve as a blueprint and guide for improving the Latino behavioral health condition.  While at over 15% of the overall population, not including the four million residents of Puerto Rico, Latinos are visibly absent from all areas of the behavioral health professionals including medicine, nursing, psychology and social work.

A Report of the Surgeon General: How Tobacco Smoke Causes Disease
The Surgeon General’s office recently released its 30th smoking-related report since 1964. The report found that: there is no safe level of exposure to tobacco smoke; damage from tobacco smoke is immediate; and smoking longer means more damage to your body. Additionally, tobacco smoke contains chemicals that exacerbate the health issues resulting from diabetes, a severe problem for persons with serious mental health problems. However, evidence shows that “when smokers quit, the risk for a heart attack drops sharply after just 1 year; stroke risk can fall to about the same as a nonsmoker’s after 2-5 years; risks for cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, and bladder are cut in half after 5 years; and the risk for dying of lung cancer drops by half after 10 years.”  More information about the harmful effects of smoking and information on quitting are available in the report.

Integrating Appropriate Services for Substance Use Conditions in Health Care Settings
Progress is being made in the direction of widespread adoption of integration models for substance use treatment, primary care, and other healthcare organizations and it continues with the September 22, 2010  release of a white paper by the Treatment Research Institute. This paper summarizing the experiences of numerous integration projects underway around the nation. "Integrating Appropriate Services for Substance Use Conditions in Health Care Settings:  An Issue Brief on Lessons Learned and Challenges Ahead" is a summary of an April 22 meeting of the TRI-led (and SAMHSA/CSAT funded) Forum on Integration where numerous leaders of integration projects were invited to briefly describe their models and summarize the barriers they had encountered and recommendations for overcoming them.

Diabetes, Depression can be a two way street
A recent HealthDay article reports that diabetes and depression often occur together.  "The research, conducted at Harvard University, found that study subjects who were depressed had a much higher risk of developing diabetes, and those with diabetes had a significantly higher risk of depression, compared to healthy study participants."  

Integrated Case Management Manual
A new publication, “The Integrated Case Management Manual: Assisting Complex Patients Regain Physical and Mental Health,” serves as a reference guide for case managers working to coordinate integrated health. Several key features of this resource include tools and resources for deploying an Integrated Health Model, a color-coded grid for tracking patient progress and outcomes through the illness, and methods for building partnerships between primary care and behavioral health.     

Patient Centered Medical Homes: Caring for the Whole Person
With team-based care management as a  key component of the Patient Centered Medical Home, behavioral health providers have an opportunity to demonstrate the quality and cost benefit of adding mental health and substance used services to the primary care setting and of adding primary care to specialty behavioral health settings. Barbara Mauer in National Council Magazine.

Patient Centered Primary Care Collaborative Releases Two Reports on Medical Homes
The Patient Centered Primary Care Collaborative, of which the National Council is a member, has released two new reports on payment reform and medication management.

New Brief Outlines Barriers to Integrated and Accountable Care
A new data brief from the Commonwealth Fund presents the results of a recent survey of healthcare opinion leaders on the barriers to system delivery innovations and integrated care.

Primary Care-Behavioral Health Collaborative Participants Featured in Mental Health Weekly
Primary and Behavioral Health Integration efforts in the fourth phase of the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare’s Primary Care-Mental Health Collaborative Care Project were recently featured in the July 19 issue of Mental Health Weekly. 
 
Study Offers Evidence on Screening for Drug Use in Primary Care
A new research study asserts that a single-question screen for drug use is valid and could lead to more widespread implementation in primary care  practice.                                                                                                                                                                    

Primary Care at Ohio Mental Health Agency
Primary and Behavioral Health Integration efforts by a participating member of the National Council’s Primary Care-Mental Health Collaborative Care project was recently featured in the June 28 issue of Mental Health Weekly. The article entitled, “Primary care has important presence at Ohio mental health agency clinic” speaks to the success and challenges experienced by Community Support Services in Summit County, Akron Ohio when they opened the Margaret Clark Morgan Integrated Care Clinic.  CEO Terrance Dalton shares their efforts to measure the impact on clients with mental illness including emergency room visits, use of multiple medications, follow through on care for chronic conditions such as diabetes, and health measures such as blood pressure and body mass index.

Research Shows Link Between Depression, Diabetes
A new article published in the American Journal of Psychiatry examines the incidence of diabetes mellitus in individuals with clinically significant depression. The study found that clinically significant depression is associated with a 65% increased risk of diabetes. The researchers concluded that nonsevere depression, persistent depression, and untreated depression may play a role in the development of diabetes.

Report Examines Tobacco Cessation in Substance Use Disorder Treatment Facilities
The National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors (NASADAD) has released a report examining state smoking policies in substance use disorder (SUD) treatment facilities and the challenges associated with implementing such policies. The report shows that most states do not allow smoking at SUD facilities, and twelve states have specific policies banning smoking in these facilities. It also details the types of cessation resources available to those utilizing the facilities and treatment providers, such as training and toolkits for providers, quitlines, nicotine replacement therapy, and counseling. These cessation services are usually provided through agencies other than state substance abuse agencies. Read the full report on the NASADAD website.

Evolving Models of Behavioral Health Integration in Primary Care
The Milbank Memorial Fund has just published a new report that summarizes the available evidence and states’ experiences around integration as a means for delivering quality, effective physical and mental health care. It provides eight models that represent qualitatively different ways of integrating/coordinating care across a continuum—from minimal collaboration to partial integration to full integration—according to stakeholder needs, resources, and practice patterns. 

Aetna collaborates with DCPS to pilot mental health project
Aetna Behavioral Health today announced a new pilot project with Delaware County Professional Services (DCPS), one of the largest behavioral health practices in Pennsylvania, to provide resources for local primary care physicians (PCPs) to conduct mental health screenings and facilitate access to quality specialist behavioral health services.

USPSTF Recommends Screening Adults for Depression in Clinics with Staff Support
The United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has issued a new recommendation on routine screening of adults for depression.  USPSTF recommends routine screening for depression among adults in clinical practices that have systems in place to assure accurate diagnosis, effective treatment, and follow-up.

HHS Secretary Sebelius Delivers Remarks on Integration of Mental and Physical Health Services at National Council Member Organization
Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius recently delivered remarks at Sheppard-Pratt Health System in Maryland.  Much of her speech was in support of integrated care programs such as the SAMHSA co-location grant that received a 100% increase in funding in the recently passed omnibus spending bill. Get the full text of Secretary Sebelius’ remarks.

Care Management Improves Physical Health of Patients with Mental Illness
Connecting mental health patients with care managers responsible for coordinating their health care significantly improves their overall health and wellbeing, according to a study by Emory University public health researchers. Study findings suggest that care management is a promising approach for improving quality and outcomes of medical care for patients with serious mental illnesses.

Integrated Care for Social Workers
An article in Social Work Today addresses the topic of integrated health and provides advice for social workers who want to serve in integrated settings. 

Report Examines Role of Social Workers, Nurses in Improving the Reach of Primary Care
A new report from the Commonwealth Fund analyzes the role of interdisciplinary healthcare teams in expanding access to primary care. The report studied teams made up of pharmacists, social workers, nurses and nurse practitioners working within a primary care setting with the aim of improving care and lowering costs for patients with depression, disabilities, and other conditions that have traditionally been difficult to treat in primary care. The model was found to be successful, but the report concludes that additional support from federal and state policymakers will be needed in order to quickly implement this and similar models around the country.

Mental Health Community Case Management and Its Effect on Healthcare Expenditures
This journal article written by Joseph Parks, MD; Tim Swinfard, MS; and Pauk Stuve, PhD found that people with severe mental illness served by public mental health systems have rates of co-occurring chronic medical illnesses that of two to three times higher than the general population, with a corresponding life expectancy of 25 years less. Treatment of these chronic medical conditions in those with serious mental illness is often substandard, with many receiving no treatment at all. Much of the treatment they do receive comes from costly ER visits and inpatient stays, rather than routine screenings and preventive medicine.

Understanding Primary and Behavioral Healthcare Integration Webinar Recording
Individuals bring their medical and behavioral health problems with them to both medical care and specialty behavioral health care. Efforts to promote primary and behavioral healthcare integration (PBHCI) are taking hold across the country. What is integration and what does it exactly mean for access to mental and substance use services? Please click the links to view the recording and presentation of the Understanding Primary and Behavioral Healthcare Integration webinar.  Laurie Alexander is a behavioral health consultant specializing in integrated healthcare.

Clinics For People With Mental Illness Treat The Whole Patient
An article in the Chicago Tribune about whole health collaboration with Thresholds, a National Council member and the University of Illinois College of Nursing, December 18, 2010.

UMDNJ Researchers Propose Comprehensive Tobacco Recovery Model for Smokers with Mental Illness
A new article from researchers at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ), following 10 years of studying tobacco use among smokers with mental illness, have developed a comprehensive strategy for recovery from smoking addiction that could serve as a nationwide model. 

Healthcare Delivery: Features of Integrated Systems Support Patient Care Strategies and Access to Care, but Systems Face Challenges
A new report released from the Government Accountability Office cites that health care delivery in the United States often lacks coordination and communication across providers and settings.  As a result, this fragmentation can lead to poor quality of care, medical errors, and higher costs. Providers have formed integrated delivery systems to improve efficiency, quality, and access. The Health Care Safety Net Act of 2008 directed Government Accountability Office to report on integrated delivery systems that serve underserved populations--those that are uninsured or medically underserved (i.e., facing economic, geographic, cultural, or linguistic barriers to care, including Medicaid enrollees and rural populations).  Integrated delivery systems in GAO's sample reported that using electronic health records, operating health insurance plans, and employing physicians all support strategies to improve patient care. An electronic health records contains patient and care information, such as progress notes and medications. Some integrated delivery systems said that using electronic health records supports their patient care strategies such as care coordination, disease management, and use of care protocols by increasing the availability of individual patient and patient population data and by improving communication among providers.    

Nicotine and Tobacco Research
Research findings indicate that mental illness is significantly associated with tobacco use in Blacks. Tobacco cessation interventions that address mental illness as a barrier to cessation are needed. 

Mental Health Care Services in Primary Care
As health care reform focuses on a central role for primary care in the delivery and coordination of health care services, especially for the chronically ill, it is timely to consider how mental health services could be better integrated into primary care. Follow this link to view the recent paper, “Mental Health Care Services in Primary Care” from the Center for American Progress.

Report Addresses Improving Care for LGBT Youth
The Center for American Progress has released a report on the struggles facing LGBT youth today. This is a population in need of better treatment, as evidenced most recently by news reports on the suicides of several LGBT teens. Treating LGBT youth comes with many challenges. Age restrictions, an inability to pay for treatment, and transportation problems prevent many teenagers from being able to reach out to secondary mental health service providers. They are less likely to seek treatment, less likely to open up to persons they believe might be prejudiced, and as a group are 85% more likely to be verbally harassed than non-LGBT youth.  Read the full article to learn about guidelines and possible health care reform options for improved treatment for LGBT youth.

Report Examines Role of Social Workers, Nurses in Improving the Reach of Primary Care
A new report from the Commonwealth Fund analyzes the role of interdisciplinary healthcare teams in expanding access to primary care. The report studied teams made up of pharmacists, social workers, nurses and nurse practitioners working within a primary care setting with the aim of improving care and lowering costs for patients with depression, disabilities, and other conditions that have traditionally been difficult to treat in primary care. The model was found to be successful, but the report concludes that additional support from federal and state policymakers will be needed in order to quickly implement this and similar models around the country.

Mental Health Community Case Management and Its Effect on Healthcare Expenditures
This journal article written by Joseph Parks, MD; Tim Swinfard, MS; and Pauk Stuve, PhD found that people with severe mental illness served by public mental health systems have rates of co-occurring chronic medical illnesses that of two to three times higher than the general population, with a corresponding life expectancy of 25 years less. Treatment of these chronic medical conditions in those with serious mental illness is often substandard, with many receiving no treatment at all. Much of the treatment they do receive comes from costly ER visits and inpatient stays, rather than routine screenings and preventive medicine.

Understanding Primary and Behavioral Healthcare Integration Webinar Recording
Individuals bring their medical and behavioral health problems with them to both medical care and specialty behavioral health care. Efforts to promote primary and behavioral healthcare integration (PBHCI) are taking hold across the country. What is integration and what does it exactly mean for access to mental and substance use services? Please click the links to view the recording and presentation of the Understanding Primary and Behavioral Healthcare Integration webinar.  Laurie Alexander is a behavioral health consultant specializing in integrated healthcare.

Clinics For People With Mental Illness Treat The Whole Patient
An article in the Chicago Tribune about whole health collaboration with Thresholds, a National Council member and the University of Illinois College of Nursing, December 18, 2010.

Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal
The spring issue of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal is devoted to Promoting Integrated Healthcare for People Living with Psychiatric Disabilities. Click this link to view these and other articles: The New Health Care Reform Act and Medicaid: New Opportunities for Psychiatric Rehabilitation by Allison A. Wishon Siegwarth & Chris Koyanagi, A Qualitative Study: Barriers and Facilitators to Health Care Access for Individuals with Psychiatric Disabilities by Marie Mesidor, Vasudha Gidugu, E. Sally Rogers, V. Megan Kash-MacDonald & Judith B. Boardman, and Healthy Eating in Persons with Serious Mental Illnesses: Understanding and Barriers Laura K. Barre, Joelle C. Ferron, Kristin E. Davis & Rob Whitley.

Integrating Appropriate Services for Substance Use Conditions in Health Care Settings:  An Issue Brief on Lessons Learned and Challenges Ahead
"Integrating Appropriate Services for Substance Use Conditions in Health Care Settings:  An Issue Brief on Lessons Learned and Challenges Ahead" is a summary of an April 22 meeting of the TRI-led (and SAMHSA/CSAT funded) Forum on Integration where numerous leaders of integration projects were invited to briefly describe their models and summarize the barriers they had encountered and recommendations for overcoming them.

Future of Pediatrics Conference
With the overall goal of improving child and adolescent health, this conference blends cutting-edge updates on clinical and practice management topics with strategies for advancing medical homes and building partnerships within communities. Learners will apply principles of team-based care, change management, and co-management between pediatric specialists and primary care, to achieve a goal of improving the health of all children. A variety of educational formats will be utilized, including interactive, roundtable, and networking sessions, to provide learners with opportunities to develop innovative, enduring partnerships and transform their practices. Register by clicking this link.

Treating Clients with Traumatic Brain Injury
SAMHSA’s “Treating Clients with Traumatic Brain Injury,” Substance Abuse Treatment Advisory, Volume 9, Issue 2, will help substance abuse treatment and behavioral health professionals whose clients are affected by a traumatic brain injury (TBI). TBI frequently co-occurs with a behavioral health disorder. It can cause a wide range of cognitive and behavioral effects that interfere with a client’s ability to adhere to substance abuse treatment. Risk of psychiatric disorders, such as depression and generalized anxiety disorder, is elevated following TBI. Individuals diagnosed with psychiatric disorders conversely have a higher risk for TBI. This Substance Abuse Treatment Advisory provides guidance to substance abuse treatment and behavioral health professionals on working with their clients affected by TBI to promote their successful recovery from both conditions.

National Resident Matching Program
The number of students matched to primary care residencies increased for the second year in a row. View the press release For Second Year, More U.S. Medical School Seniors Match to Primary Care Residencies reports that the number of seniors matched to family medicine residencies increased 11% from 2010.

Collaborative Mental Health Care
Primary Care Clinician sometimes cite a lack of referral sources as a barrier to expanding their role in mental health care. After receiving the Collaborative Mental Health Care Pedialink course primary care clinicians will be able to identify needs that require emergency specialist care, determinate other clinical circumstances that require specialty mental health or substance abuse services and describe methods for making effective referrals to mental health or substance abuse specialists.

Leading Health Indicators for Healthy People 2010
For the past three decades, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has issued a national agenda aimed at improving the health of all Americans over each 10-year span. The report recommends 12 topics, 12 indicators, and 24 objectives that that can be used to create a focus on major health concerns for the U.S. population.

Pillars of Peer Support II
This report includes summaries of the presentations that were made at the summit. These include a review of the evidence base for Peer Support Services and a review of service implementation to date in the various states; panel discussion summaries; and an examination of the opportunities and challenges for implementing a state plan for Medicaid reimbursed Peer Support Services.

New Warm Line Helps Clinicians Tackle Patients' Substance Abuse
This free, national service was launched today to help primary care providers seeking to identify and advise substance-abusing patients. The service, Physician Clinical Support System for Primary Care (PCSS-P), offers peer-to-peer mentorship and resources on incorporating screening and follow-up into regular patient care. PCSS-P is a project of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health, and the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM).

Handbook on Sensitive Practice for Health Care Practitioners
Read lessons from Adult Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse for information on sensitive practice for health care practitioners. Visit the website dedicated to helping health care practitioners better work with survivors of sex abuse.

A Model for Addressing Mental Health Disparities Among Latinos
Researchers suggests that an effective method of reaching and treating mental health issues among Latinos is through medical family therapy and suggests that family therapists wishing to work with Latinos in a medical setting must be competent in two cultures: (a) Latino culture and (b) the culture of medicine. 

Certificate in Wellness Coaching
The John F. Kennedy, Jr. Institute for Worker Education at the City University of New York (CUNY) will offer a Certificate in Wellness Coaching in Fall  of 2011. To access the application click here.

Helping Latinos quit smoking: Miriam Hospital studies offers new insight Latinos looking to quit smoking are more successful when they have a significant other and partner support, say researchers from The Miriam Hospital's Centers for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine. Click here to read the full article. 
 
Forum on Integration
The Treatment Research Institute released the results of its second federally-funded Forum on Integration, that targets payers and purchasers of treatment services for substance use disorders that are integrated into primary (medical) care. Click here to read the white paper. 

Patients With Mental Illness Have Higher Mortality After Heart Attacks But Receive Inferior Care
From Medical News today, research from the University of Leicester raises concerns about higher than expected mortality following acute coronary events such as heart attack in those with significant mental ill health. Read the full article. 

Availability of Asian language substance abuse treatment counselors varies by region.
The number of substance abuse treatment services tailored to various Asian cultures are not distributed evenly in the United States. Click here to read the full fact sheet.

Talking about suicide is now seen as plus for prevention
As new suicide theories dispels the old myths about suicide, new methods empower professionals and laymen get more involved. Click here to read the full article.

New tool aims to improve measurement of primary care depression outcomes
Primary care doctors have long been on the front lines of depression treatment. The University of Michigan Health System have developed a new tool that may help family physicians better evaluate the extent to which a patient’s depression has improved. Click here to read the entire article.

Coordinating Care in the Medical Neighborhood
Patient Centered Medical Home released a white paper, Coordinating Care in the Medical Neighborhood: Critical Components and Available Mechanisms.’  It is available on the publicly-accessible PCMH Resource Center website.

Consumer-Operated Services Evidence-Based Practice KIT
SAMHSA’s Consumer-Operated Services Evidence-Based Practice KIT is now available through the SAMHSA website. 

Spanish-language booklets for  medication-assisted treatment
SAMHSA's new Spanish-language booklets will benefit individuals who are entering medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for opioid addiction.

National Prevention Strategy
The National Prevention Strategy was created to focus our nation on prevention and wellness. Their goal is to increase the number of Americans Providence Center Clinic Integrates Treatment of Mental And Physical Disorders

Providence Center
Providence Center has just completed a $150,000 medical clinic embedded in their mental-health center. It now has about 200 patients-patients lacking a primary-care provider, those who haven’t seen any doctor in years and some for convenience.  Click here to read more about Providence Center’s efforts.

Center for Integrated Health
Fountain House in New York City is launching a center for integrated health. It is intended to serve as “the centerpiece of an innovative health home model” for people with psychiatric disabilities. Click here to read more.  
 

ONC Workforce Program
The purpose of the Curriculum Development Centers Program, a part of the ONC Workforce Program, is to provide funding to institutions of higher education to support health information technology curriculum development. Click here to see the Curriculum Development Awardees. 

Adolescent Substance Use
CASA released Adolescent Substance Use: America's #1 Public Health Problem that declared teen smoking, drinking, misusing prescription drugs and using illegal drugs a public health problem and the primary origin of the complex brain disease of addiction. Click here to access the report.  

Catalogue of Federal PCMH Activities
AHRQ has debuted a Catalogue of Federal PCMH Activities on its Patient-Centered Medical Home website.  The website contains AHRQ’s definition of the PCMH, white papers on care coordination and the medical neighborhood and a searchable database of articles relating to the PCMH.

New report by the Commonwealth Fund
This report, “Assessing and Addressing Legal Barriers to the Clinical Integration of Community Health Centers and Other Community Providers” discusses the following areas: Scope of Project, 340B Drug Discounts, Federal Tort Claims, and types of collaboration and affiliation arrangements.

Smoking and Mental Illness- Breaking the Link
An article from the New England Journal of Medicine, “Smoking and Mental Illness- Breaking the Link” addresses the, “Five prevailing myths have contributed to continuing tobacco use among people with mental illness.”

New Screen Useful for Mental Disorders Seen in Primary Care
A new questionnaire is useful for screening mental disorders seen in primary care, according to the results of a validation study reported in the July/August issue of the Annals of Family Medicine. Click here to read the article. 

Coordinating Care in the Medical Neighborhood
Patient Centered Medical Home released a white paper, Coordinating Care in the Medical Neighborhood: Critical Components and Available Mechanisms.’  It is available on the publicly-accessible PCMH Resource Center website.