Many Patients Approve of Nurses Delivering Alcohol Screening in Hospital |
| January 18th, 2012 |
Join Together (1/18/12): Many hospital patients are comfortable with having nurses deliver screening and brief intervention for alcohol, a new study suggests. According to the researchers, the findings indicate that nurses can be important partners in helping to screen for hazardous drinking. Medical News Today reports the U.S. Joint Commission recently approved new hospital accreditation measures regarding alcohol screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) for all patients who are hospitalized. Until now, little has been known about inpatient opinions of alcohol screening delivered by healthcare professionals other than physicians. The study included 355 hospital patients. The researchers found more than 84 percent of patients were generally accepting of nurse-delivered SBIRT. To read more, click here. |
| Posted in News & Updates |
Prescription Drug Abuse Results in One Death Every 19 Minutes in U.S. |
| January 17th, 2012 |
Join Together (1/17/12): One person dies every 19 minutes from prescription drug abuse in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). An estimated 27,000 unintentional drug overdose deaths occurred in 2007, UPI reports. The rise in unintentional drug overdose deaths has been driven by an increase in use of opioids, the CDC notes in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. For every unintentional overdose death linked to opioids, nine people are admitted for substance abuse treatment, 35 people go to the emergency room, 161 report drug abuse or dependence, and 461 report non-medical uses of opioids. To read more, click here. |
| Posted in News & Updates |
CESAR FAX: Increasing Suboxone Misuse in Ohio |
| January 17th, 2012 |
CESAR FAX (1/17/12): Since 1999, the Ohio Substance Abuse Monitoring Network (OSAM) has been monitoring local substance abuse trends. Their most recent report, covering January to June 2011, indicates that the “availability of Suboxone® remains high in all regions, with the exception of Toledo where it remains moderately available”. Obtaining Suboxone is described by another user as “super easy; Like candy machines, a dime a dozen”. According to a treatment provider, Suboxone “is becoming easier to get than methadone”. Following is a summary of Suboxone use in Ohio, in the words of users (U), treatment providers (TP), and law enforcement officers (LE). To read more, click here |
| Posted in News & Updates |
NC Prescription Pill Abuse On The Rise |
| January 17th, 2012 |
JD News.com (1/15/12): Misuse of prescription pills in Eastern North Carolina has reached epidemic proportions, becoming the second leading cause of death, state and local law enforcement officials said. “With the exception of traffic fatalities, prescription drug overdoses are the leading cause of death among young people in Eastern North Carolina,” N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper told The Daily News in a Friday phone interview. Eight in 100,000 deaths is considered epidemic by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. The death rate statewide for deaths caused by unintentional overdose poisoning in 2009-10 was 11 per 100,000, according to the latest information available from the N.C. State Center for Health Statistics. To read more, click here. |
| Posted in News & Updates |
Addiction Medicine 2012 Conference Accreditation Information |
| January 17th, 2012 |
This Live activity, Addiction Medicine 2012 Conference, with a beginning date of March 30, 2012, has been reviewed and is acceptable for up to 16 Prescribed credit(s) by the American Academy of Family Physicians. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity. Approval of Substance Abuse Credits from The North Carolina Substance Abuse Professional Practice Board is pending at this time. To register or see more details, click here. |
| Posted in News & Updates |
Medicaid Alert – ATTENTION ALL PROVIDERS OF MH, SA, DD WAIVER SERVICES IN THE WESTERN HIGHLANDS NETWORK COUNTIES |
| January 17th, 2012 |
Medicaid Alert (1/13/12): All claims for January 1 and January 2, 2012 dates-of-service for mental health, substance abuse, and I/DD waiver services delivered to recipients with eligibility in the Western Highlands Network (WHN) catchment area will need to be submitted to HP Enterprise Services for payment not to WHN. If you have already submitted a claim to HP or WHN for those dates, you will need to resubmit to HP for payment after February 1, 2012. If you have not already submitted a claim, please hold your claims for those 2 dates until February 2 for payment in the February 7 checkwrite. Beginning with January 3, 2012 dates-of-service, all claims for mental health, substance abuse, and I/DD waiver services delivered to recipients with eligibility in the WHN catchment area will need to be submitted to WHN for payment. For more information, click here. |
| Posted in News & Updates |
Medical Homes, Improved Care Save N.C. Medicaid Nearly $1 Billion |
| January 17th, 2012 |
State of NC Office of Governor Bev Perdue (12/21/12): Care management saved N.C. Medicaid nearly $1 billion over four years, according to a new analysis by a national health care consulting firm. The report by Milliman Inc., an actuarial firm based in San Diego, Calif., examined the impact of the state’s support for primary care “medical homes”, a system to coordinate health care for Medicaid recipients. Milliman’s report, which was required by the General Assembly, found that recipients with a medical home get better care and consumed fewer Medicaid resources than those who lack a medical home. From fiscal year 2007-2010, N.C. Medicaid avoided spending $984 million by having 1.1 million of its members enrolled into medical homes. In just the last two fiscal years of the study – 2009 and 2010 – $677 million was saved. To read more, click here. |
| Posted in News & Updates |
Funded wholly or in part by the federal Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant Fund (CFDA #93.959) as a project of the NC Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities & Substance Abuse Services.