mental health – CareThreads

May is Mental Health Month

May 10, 2017

Since 1949, the United States have observed May as National Mental Health Month, bringing to light the epidemic that affects millions of Americans. Mental Health America, along with other organizations, dedicates the entire month to share information on how to achieve positive mental health, provide helpful resources, and to bring awareness to the topic of mental health. What is Mental Health? According to MentalHealth.gov, mental health encompasses our emotional, psychological, and social well-being; It affects how we think, feel, and…

The Value of Becoming 1 in a Million – The Mental Health First Aid Movement

September 2, 2016

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Cause Connected, Netsmart in the Community, Who is Netsmart?

It only took eight hours, but it’s changed my perspective on how I see people I interact with in my work and personal life. Recently my co-workers and I used one of our two volunteer days (what Netsmart calls EveryDayMatters Days) to take the Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) course and learn more about mental illness and how to help people going through difficult times. Netsmart is among only a handful of companies nationwide offering this training directly to their associates…

Time to Transition to Better Transitions of Care

November 17, 2014

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Care Coordination, EHR Solutions and Operations, Human Services, Interoperability, Post-acute Care

Some $25 billion to $45 billion per year is lost on poor transitions of care, meaning a failure of the healthcare system to properly transfer a client from the care of one clinician in a certain setting to the care of another clinician in another setting. There are many reasons for this, but it most often happens due to lack of information sharing. In the behavioral health community, where as many as 68 percent of adults with mental health conditions…

Boom, Boom – What Healthcare Leaders Can Learn From The Dot Com Era

August 15, 2014

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Human Services, Post-acute Care, Videos

1994 — I was a budding journalist when something called the Information Superhighway began getting considerable mainstream attention. The TV commercial below was running at the time and made the little understood concept more mysteriously inviting.

Technology That Helps People Have Better Lives Is Very Cool

May 8, 2014

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Care Coordination, EHR Solutions and Operations, Human Services, Interoperability, Post-acute Care

Healthcare initiatives like care coordination, interoperability, and CDSS all rely on the ability to reliably and quickly share information. To be certain healthcare providers are successful in the future, they must not only provide better care with less, they must also become partners with providers from treatment settings previously considered disparate. Whether these are providers of mental health, substance use, public health, or primary care services, they must open their minds to parallel treatment paradigms while opening their systems to…

Kevin Scalia Addresses ONC BH Committee

February 11, 2014

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Human Services, Legislative/Policy

Recently I testified to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology Policy committee’s certification and adoption workgroup regarding voluntary certification of electronic health records for behavioral health. Many groups were represented in the discussion including consumer advocates, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association, SATVA, behavioral health providers, and methadone clinics. There were those

International Initiative for Mental Health Leadership (IIMHL)

April 12, 2013

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Cause Connected, Human Services, Netsmart Culture, Netsmart in the Community, Partnerships and Collaboration

International Initiative for Mental Health Leadership (IIMHL) April 12, 2013 As I mentioned, I have attended two noteworthy events recently. Last week, I shared with you about attending the MHCA event. This week, I will be talking about how I recently attended the seventh meeting of the International Initiative for Mental Health Leadership (IIMHL) www.iimhl.com in Auckland New Zealand. IIMHL was created in 2003 primarily through the efforts of MHCA. Several of the members of

Mental Health Corporations of America (MHCA)

April 5, 2013

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Cause Connected, Human Services, Netsmart Culture, Netsmart in the Community, Partnerships and Collaboration

Mental Health Corporations of America (MHCA) April 5, 2013 was recently involved in two somewhat related events that were noteworthy in their own ways. This week I will be blogging about Mental Health Corporations of America (MHCA) and next week will follow up with the International Initiative for Mental Health Leadership (IIMHL) event in Auckland New Zealand. First was the retirement of Don Hevey, CEO of MHCA. In case you don’t know, MHCA is an invitation only trade Association for CEOs of nonprofit…

Sandy Hook, Violence and Mental Illness

January 22, 2013

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Cause Connected, Human Services, Legislative/Policy

Sandy Hook, Violence and Mental Illness Jan. 22, 2013 n my last blog, I agreed to further discuss the topic of risk management. However that was before the tragic events in Sandy Hook. While discussing this event is still addressing the issue of risk, I’d really like to focus on the current debate regarding guns and the role of mental illness and violence.

Risk Management – Part 1

October 2, 2012

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Human Services

Risk Management – Part 1 October 2, 2012 “Life is a probability statement.” – Jim Treloar, Ph.D. Dr. Treloar was my statistics and research methods professor when I was working on my doctorate at Ball State University. His quote above has stuck with me my entire career. It summarizes the human condition in one, pithy sentence. We can’t predict events exactly, but we can say (sometimes with high confidence) when they are more or less likely to happen. For some…