-
Behavioral Health Care Agencies Join Together to Provide Access to Care Across Diverse Populations in New York City
Ten community-based behavioral health care agencies announced that they have joined together to establish the Behavioral Health NYC IPA, LLC (BHNYC), an independent practice association (IPA) in New York City. BHNYC was established with a mission to provide rapid access to mental health and...
-
Flushing Hospital Medical Center: Leveraging the Geriatric Service Demonstration Program to Sustain Integrated Care for Patients
In order to lay the groundwork for systems change to better meet the needs of older adults in New York State, the Geriatric Mental Health Act was enacted on August 23, 2005. The law authorized the establishment of the Interagency Geriatric Mental Health and Chemical Dependence Planning Council, the...
-
Reaching Out to Meet the Mental Health Needs of the Aging
There are more than with 3.7 million individuals aged 60 and older in New York State. It’s expected that this number will increase to 4.63 million by 2040. At the same time, the number of older adults with mental illness will increase by 80 percent, to 900,000. Studies have shown that the...
-
Seniors and Substance Use
After her husband died, Sandra began having trouble sleeping. She tried many over- the-counter remedies to help her sleep, but nothing worked. Sandra was hesitant to speak with her doctor about it as she knew that many prescription sleep aides were addictive, and she was concerned about becoming...
-
Substance Misuse in Older Adults
In recognition of the State’s commitment to healthy aging, the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) designated New York as the first Age-Friendly State in the nation. The Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS) recognizes that a key component of healthy aging is...
-
A Geriatric Substance Abuse Recovery Program
Substance abuse among the geriatric population is often overlooked or ignored, despite the finding that almost a fifth of older adults misuse drugs and/or alcohol (Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, 2012), and evidence showing the detrimental impact of substance abuse on elders’ quality of...
-
Funding for NYS Opioid Epidemic
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced more than $9 million in federal funding has been secured to expand opioid addiction treatment services across the state. This funding includes $5.7 million to expand access to medication assisted treatment, $2.1 million to develop new recovery centers in areas of...
-
The Changing Landscape of Children’s Behavioral Health in New York: Opportunities for Addiction Services
New York State has been engaged in an effort to re-design its Medicaid program to better meet the needs of the people it covers while managing costs more effectively. The goals have been to increase access, develop new services, improve outcomes and reduce use of expensive hospitalizations. As the...
-
The Behavioral Health Community Today: Change, Challenge and Opportunity
Over the last several years, the community behavioral health landscape has changed. New York State is driving reforms toward achieving the Triple Aim for better care and improved health at lower costs. In doing so, the community-based behavioral health sector has been charged with undergoing...
-
Substance Use Disorder Measures and Preparing for Value-Based Purchasing
In a previous column, I wrote about the measures for value-based purchasing being developed together with the New York State Department of Health and the Center on Addictions, our partner on many projects. Our work to develop clear measures has set the foundation for insurance plans, providers and...
