-
The Promise and Peril of Performance Measurement
Few would dispute the assertion that our behavioral healthcare system and the many institutions on which it depends are in a state of transformation, if not upheaval. This transformation is characterized by many overarching themes and trends, most of which aim to enhance the quality of care...
-
Managing Co-Occurring Substance Use and Mental Health Disorders
The combination of substance use disorders and mental illness is a common clinical problem – and a serious public health concern. The problem is widespread. At least one-third of people with anxiety and depression – and between half and two-thirds of people with more serious mental illnesses...
-
Housing as Healthcare
The design and operations of supportive housing programs in New York State has been positively impacted in numerous ways by the state’s Medicaid Redesign process over the last six years. The state’s Medicaid Redesign Team (MRT) recognized early on that housing is a major social determinant of...
-
Systems Transformation in Progress: Promise and Pitfalls
A couple of months ago I attended a conference in Albany in order to learn of the latest developments in the state’s movement toward a “value based” healthcare delivery system. Monica Oss, Chief Executive Officer of Open Minds, a publication that explores the intricacies of behavioral...
-
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...
-
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...
-
The Emerging Role of Nursing in the Delivery of Psychiatric Care
Although we have always known that mind and body are connected, there is now increased understanding that mental and physical health are closely intertwined. Recent studies indicate an interaction between symptoms of mood and anxiety with exercise, diet, and overall health, as well as chronic...
-
Integration on a Continuum: Models for Integrating Behavioral Health and Primary Health Care
In the recent years of Medicaid Redesign in New York State, community-based mental health agencies who serve persons with serious and complex psychiatric conditions have addressed the evolving transformation of health care in a variety of ways. Much of the response has been reactive, with agencies...
