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Uniquely LGBTQ
This article is the second in a quarterly series giving voice to the perspectives of individuals with lived experiences as they share their opinions on a particular topic. The authors of this column facilitated a focus group of their peers to inform this writing. The authors are served by Services...
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Promoting Cultural Competence to Address Health Disparities and Improve Health Outcomes
Health disparities are preventable differences in health outcomes that are experienced by disadvantaged populations. They are a leading factor in the incidence, prevalence, mortality, and burden of health conditions across specific populations in the US. These factors can influence the available...
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From Neighboring Institutions to Collaborators: A Joint Effort to Improve Integrated Care
The integration of primary and behavioral health has become a major focus of healthcare restructuring across the country in the past several decades. New partnerships, emerging from a historically siloed system, share the triple aim of improving health status, containing costs and enhancing service...
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Helping Moms and Kids
Health care delivery is generally complicated, but it doesn’t always have to be. Change can occur through a simple step. Take the case of maternal depression. It is undisputed that depression is a highly treatable medical condition, especially if identified and treated early. It is also...
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A New Face on Familiar Trends
Last year I attended a conference at which Dr. Michael Hogan, the former Commissioner of the New York State Office of Mental Health, delivered a keynote address on emerging issues and trends within health care reform. He distilled a seemingly inchoate mass of movements, mandates and initiatives...
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The Promise and Peril of Value Based Behavioral Health Care
By aligning payment with value, we can achieve the triple aim of better outcomes and better experience of the healthcare system at a lower cost IF we define value in terms of wellness, recovery and improved quality of life. In this case as with almost everything in our healthcare system today, the...
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Building a Quality Behavioral Health Workforce: Employing Service-User Perspectives Throughout Your Organization
With the introduction of Managed Behavioral Health Care in October of 2015 and the soon to be implemented Home and Community Based Services (HCBS), engagement of “peers” in the workforce has become a topic of considerable interest. HCBS introduces peer support as a Medicaid billable service...
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Effective Supervision: An Essential Component to Enhancing Consumer Outcomes
The behavioral healthcare industry is facing a monumental time of change. The mental health field in particular is faced with putting more responsibility on consumers to drive their own treatment. No longer, it seems, will a person with mental health challenges be cared for in a prescriptive, or...
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Looking Ahead: The Future of Behavioral Health
Integrated care that aims to treat the whole person, including addiction, mental health and primary care needs, is changing the landscape of healthcare. These changes are ushering in a new era for addictions professionals. The New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (NYS...
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More Than Just a Change in Title: New Statewide Effort Supports the Move from Case Management to Care Management
How does one move from working as a Case Manager to a successful Care Manager? The change in title is simply the exchange of one letter, the ‘s’ for an ‘r’. However, the change from one role to the other is not so simple. It’s been almost five years since New York State instituted...
