Count on the National Council to keep us informed about Health Care Reform and how it might impact us as individuals or organizations. On January 6, 2011, The Council sent out their Public Policy Update giving a brief overview of the features of the law that will be implemented in 2011. Even as the new majority in the House of [...]
I am in the process of deciding how to proceed with and utilize my blog during 2011. Since you are the consumers of the blog articles, I would very much appreciate your input about how I should do this. Are there particular topics I have written about that were particularly interesting or useful to you? [...]
Since October 2008, we have published 85 almost weekly blog articles. Holidays and vacations and family illnesses have sometimes interrupted the flow, but I have not purposefully interrupted the postings until now. Between now and the end of 2010, if I post a blog article, it will be brief and mostly focused on a link [...]
As a psychologist, I never cease to be amazed at how much I learn from other people. While my day-to-day work is in software for mental health organizations, much of my recreation time is spent bicycling. The Horrible Hundred is a bicycling event here in central Florida that covers up to 100 miles on the hills of [...]
Last week I attended the semiannual member meeting of the Software and Technology Vendor Association (SATVA), the trade association I have mentioned in the past. At lunch, I sat at a table with Don Hevey, the President/CEO of MHCA, described as “an alliance of select organizations that provide behavioral health services.” Their members are some [...]
Last week I attended a webinar sponsored by The National Council: Healthcare Reform Expands Compliance Requirements: Prepare Now. There is a recording of the presentation at the link above. I attend lots of webinars to try to stay informed about what is happening in our industry. As indicated by the fact that I often write [...]
On October 7 the National Council announced the release by The Parity Implementation Coalition of a toolkit aimed at helping consumers of mental health services deal with their insurance companies. The National Council, a member of the Coalition, has made the 60-page booklet available on their web site. This toolkit is aimed at providers, consumers, and their advocates. [...]
On Monday the National Council announced that they have won a competitive grant to provide training and technical assistance to move forward the process of integrating primary and behavioral health care services. They will provide support services and assistance to organizations that have received grants to develop integrated care within their organizations, as well as to other organizations seeking [...]
2010 has been a year of marker events for us at SOS and this is a time of year when I usually think about such things. I have mentioned previously that Fall feels like the new year to me. The start of school, my birth in September, the Jewish New Year…all of these contribute to the feeling [...]
One of our customers recently shared a NY Times column about photos you post on the web revealing where they were taken. Geotags provided by some digital cameras and many smartphones with built-in GPS features indicate where the photo was taken. If you post a photo of your child’s at-home birthday party taken with geotags turned ‘on’ [...]
Almost two months passed between my post last week and the last one before that. The combination of family illnesses followed by vacation and recovery from travel put me in a position of being so far behind in the reading I usually do that I could not possibly catch up. My personal inclination was to [...]
An organization called the Coalition for Parity, Inc. comprised of managed behavioral health organizations (MBHOs) has filed suit to halt the implementation of the Paul Wellstone and Pete Dominici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act. This group has as some of its members Value Options, Magellan Health Services Inc., and Beacon Health Strategies Inc. As reported [...]
I have recently noticed several pieces of news that I thought would be of interest to providers of behavioral health services and others. 1. The National Council Public Policy Update of April 8, 2010 pointed out an important change in timely filing requirements for Medicare claims: Requirements of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act makes (sic) [...]
I read lots of articles online…or I download the articles and read them in .pdf format. Seth found a free tool that is going to make this whole reading and organizing process easier for me. It is called PDF-XChange Viewer and it can be downloaded for FREE! If you like to highlight and make notes [...]
Every two years around this time I am busy completing my Continuing Education Units (CEUs) so I can renew my license as a psychologist. I have done this every biennium since 1980, even though I retired from practice 17 years ago. In Florida, the license is both a practice and title act…to represent myself to the [...]
On March 21, 2010, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Subsequently, they passed the Reconciliation Act (H.R. 4872) making changes in the original bill. After some maneuvering, all the necessary legislation was passed by both houses of congress and on Tuesday, March 30, 2010, President Obama signed the Healthcare [...]
On January 29, 2010, the federal departments of Health and Human Services, Labor and Treasury released their ”guidance” on the Wellstone-Dominici Mental Health Parity Act. The National Council discussed some of the contents of the Interim Final Rule (IFR) in their February 4 Public Policy Update. The IFR goes into effect April 5, 2010 and applies to policies [...]
On Sunday night our book club met to discuss Richard Dawkins’ Greatest Show on Earth. While I had a bit of difficulty with his style of writing, the data Dawkins presents in explication and support of evolution is exhaustive. Even with such overwhelming evidence, he reports that a full 44% of Americans surveyed in 2008 do not believe that [...]
As a psychologist trained 30 years ago in a Boulder-model scientist practitioner training program in clinical psychology, the ability to critically evaluate research and to determine its application to the treatment of my patients was an essential part of my practice and of my outlook on clinical psychology. That initial training fed my early interest in [...]
I’ve mentioned here pretty often than I am not a technology sophisticate. I use technology every day in my work life, but I am a slow-adopter. For some of you, this article may be so old-hat that you will ask “Kathy, where have you been?” But I know there are others out there like me, so [...]
