Practice Management Insight

August 2012

A report on events affecting Oklahoma providers

August 1 – 31

Children’s Eye Health and Safety Month

Prevent Blindness America

August 1 – 31

National Immunization Awareness Month

National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases

August 1 – 7

World Breastfeeding Week

World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action

August 8

Drug Utilization Review Board Meeting

OHCA

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August 10

Ethical Dilemmas Training-RSS Only

Woodward

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August 10

Ethical Dilemmas Training-Case Managers Only

Woodward

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August 16 – 17

SOAR Training

Tulsa

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August 22

OHCA Board Meeting

OHCA

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August 23

OHCA Board Meeting

OHCA

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August 23 – 25

Case Mgmt Training

OKC

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August 24

OHCA Board Meeting

OHCA

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MARK YOUR CALENDAR

OrionNet Systems gives their clients an edge

Dogs: A medicine for mental health problems?

(CNN) -- His name is Valor. He's half Labrador retriever, half Great Dane, and goes everywhere with Sgt. Charles Hernandez. But Valor is more than a pet -- Hernandez considers the dog a personal physician.

When Hernandez was having seizures, Valor would nibble on the side of Hernandez's leg before the veteran realized anything was wrong. And the dog pulls him away from conflicts and jumps on him during anxiety attacks to calm him down. In combination with medications, Hernandez says the dog has helped his symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.

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Money: the biggest barrier to EHR adoption

Smartphones to be used

in aiding treatment

and relapse prevention

While many providers feel relief at the Supreme Court's ACA decision, it appears that relief of a different kind will be needed to get them to reconsider their reluctance to adopt electronic health record (EHR) systems. How is that kind of relief spelled? M-O-N-E-Y.

Top three barriers to EHR implementation:

30 % Upfront costs of implementation

12 % Ongoing maintenance costs

9 % Lost revenue during transition

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In a world where technology is constantly morphing the way individuals live their lives, researchers have developed mobile apps to deliver tested treatment and relapse prevention tools through smartphones.

The scholars that make up the research team are centered at the University of Wisconsin (UW)-Madison and Dartmouth College.  A $3.5 million grant from the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) has been awarded to support this work by the Center for Health Enhancement System Studies (CHESS) at the UW-Madison.

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Psychiatric hospital survey finds admissions, occupancy rise

Behavioral healthcare systems are playing a major role in responding to the needs of the millions of Americans of all ages who experience psychiatric and substance use conditions each year, according to the latest annual survey from the National Association of Psychiatric Health Systems (NAPHS).

“This year’s NAPHS Annual Survey shows that demand for behavioral health services has continued to increase for all levels of care,” said NAPHS President/CEO Mark Covall. “At the same time that our members have responded to community needs by adding hospital beds to accommodate the most seriously ill, occupancy has also continued to increase. This shows the critical need that exists for mental health and substance use services for Americans of all ages,” he said.

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NCAD meeting to feature DBT primer for difficult cases

Rethinking men

and codependency

The co-occurrence of addiction and borderline personality disorder (BPD) in a patient results in one of the most frustrating clinical challenges for counselors, and leaves the patient highly vulnerable to worsening symptoms in both areas. A 90-minute breakout session that will take place at this year’s National Conference on Addiction Disorders (NCAD) in Orlando, Fla., will instruct professionals about the potential usefulness of dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) in working with these individuals.

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Men's treatment must focus on developing relational skills

Over the past two years we have been training and speaking with addiction professionals around the country in an effort to rethink how the addiction field can provide effective treatment services for men. Our work, with a strong emphasis on how men navigate relationships, already had us thinking about the idea of male codependency. When we were invited to speak last April at a conference sponsored by the Indiana Association of Addiction Professionals on the issue of male codependency, it required us to flesh out a framework for our emergent ideas.

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August is National Immunization Awareness Month. This observance provides the opportunity to remind the community of the importance of immunization. Make sure that your family and friends are up-to-date on their immunizations.  Vaccines are responsible for the control of many infectious diseases that were once common in this country. Maintaining high immunization rates protects the entire community by interrupting the transmission of disease-causing bacteria or viruses. The viruses and bacteria that cause vaccine-preventable diseases and death still exist and can infect people who are not protected by vaccines. Vaccines have reduced and, in some cases, eliminated many diseases that once routinely killed or harmed tens of thousands of infants, children and adults.

ThinkHealth Touch

Coming Soon

Complete all your Progress notes Offline

Have your clients sign the

Prior Authorization

signature page

Electronically & Offline

All with the iPad