Mental Health Advocacy, Awareness and News |
Members' Corner | Issues & Events | Legislative | Policy |
 
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August, 2013 |
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Members' Corner
President's Message Member Profile: Katherine Baltazar - Working Amongst the Lakota Member News Recovery Pearl: A Meaningful Life as a Component of Recovery For more information explore these resources on the APNA Website: Putting Recovery into Practice, Shedding the Label..., Guide to Person-Centered Excellence. Annual Awards: Meet the 2013 Recipients
From last month's issue of APNA News, learn more about our Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse of the Year, Jocelyn Perez, and the Recipient of the Award for Distinguished Service, Helen Birkbeck. Continuing Education: A Baker's Dozen of New CE We have a new podcast for graduate nurse educators, just in time for the new academic year: Integration of Recovery Principles for Advanced Practice Educators. Earn up to 1.0 contact hours while learning strategies for incorporating the principles of recovery into a graduate nursing program. More Info Resource Roundup: Affordable Care Act Resources & More More new resources on the APNA Website:
Board of Directors Student Scholars: The Class of 2013 Position Paper: Inpatient Intervention & Suicide Prevention Training for PMHRNs APNA 27th Annual Conference APNA a Member of the CFC Mental Health & Addiction Network New Members: 471 new members since June! Issues & Events In response to President Obama's Executive Order, the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs highlighted the establishment of two joint research consortia, at a combined investment of $107 million to research the diagnosis and treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) over a five-year period. The Consortium to Alleviate PTSD - a collaboration involving the STRONG Star Consortium (www.strongstar.org) of the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and VA's National Center for PTSD (www.ptsd.va.gov) - will attempt to develop the most effective diagnostic, prognostic, novel treatment, and rehabilitative strategies to treat and prevent PTSD. Full Story The American Nurses Association (ANA) will oversee and manage day-to-day operations of the Nursing Alliance for Quality Care (NAQC), the organizations jointly announced. In conjunction with the transition, the Alliance unveiled its new website, www.naqc.org. NAQC, the leading nursing organization dedicated to advancing high-quality, patient-centered health care, will transition from its headquarters at The George Washington University School of Nursing. Full Story In a recent video, Bruce Cuthbert, Ph.D., director, NIMH Division of Translational Research and Treatment Development, discusses the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) initiative, which he coordinates. This long-term project is incorporating genetics, imaging, cognitive science, and other levels of information to lay the foundation for a new mental disorders classification system. Click here to watch the video. The US Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General (OIG) has launched a probe into the prescribing of atypical antipsychotic medications to children under Medicaid, reported MedScape. Full Story (Free registration required) APNA encourages your health facility to participate in CDC's National Hospital Care Survey (NHCS), a new survey that will collect data on health care delivery in hospital-based settings. This study will address emerging health care issues by providing nationally representative data on inpatient care as well as care delivered in emergency departments and outpatient units. Click here for more information. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health & Society Scholars program is now accepting applications for scholars who will engage in an intensive, two-year research program. The goals of the program are to better understand and act on the determinants of health that can reduce population health disparities, and to encourage better health outcomes. The application period is open from July 15, 2013 through September 20, 2013. Click here for more information. Legislative Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) introduced the Protecting Access to Primary Care Act (H.R. 2986) to improve access to primary care for individuals enrolled in Medicaid. The bill will improve reimbursement rates for nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and other primary health care providers. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) presently provides improved reimbursement rates for physicians, but does not similarly increase reimbursement rates for other primary care providers like nurse practitioners and physician assistants. Full Story In a final rule published in the Federal Register on August 1, the Social Security Administration (SSA) announced that it will abandon the use of the term "mental retardation" and adopt the term "intellectual disability" in its Listing of Impairments used to evaluate claims involving mental disorders in adults and children and in other appropriate sections of its rules. Full Story Key mental health and addiction services organizations, including the Behavioral Health IT Coalition, applauded Rep. Tim Murphy [R-PA] and Rep. Ron Barber [D-AZ] for introducing the bipartisan Behavioral Health Information Technology Act. This important measure, which is fully paid for, would help psychiatric hospitals, community mental health centers, clinical psychologists and inpatient/outpatient addiction providers qualify for incentive payments under the HITECH Act’s "Meaningful Use" program - established to encourage the adoption of Electronic Health Records (EHRs) and associated clinical quality measures to enhance patient care. Full Story Policy Nursing homes are using antipsychotics less and instead pursuing more patient-centered treatment for dementia and other behavioral health care, according to new data released on Nursing Home Compare in July by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Unnecessary antipsychotic drug use is a significant challenge in dementia care. CMS data show that in 2010 more than 17% of nursing home patients had daily doses exceeding recommended levels. In response to these trends, CMS launched the National Partnership to Improve Dementia Care in 2012. Full Story For additional data, click here. A new report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) shows the importance of public funding for mental health services and substance abuse during difficult economic times, when it helps those who might otherwise be unable to afford the help they need. The National Expenditures for Mental Health Services and Substance Abuse Treatment, 1986-2009 shows that the annual growth rate for overall spending for the treatment of mental illness and substance use disorders was 6.1% from 2004-2007, before the recession. From 2007-2009, during the recession, that growth rate fell to 4.3%. This 1.8% point decrease was driven primarily by broader spending changes on all health care by private insurance and in state and local spending (including the state share of Medicaid) during the recession. In the midst of this decrease, an increased federal Medicaid match helped reduce state costs, which allowed State funds to support behavioral health programs during the recession that otherwise might have faced budget cuts. Full Story The American Psychiatric Nurses Association is Accredited as a provider of continuing nursing education by the |
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