One interesting development is that the addiction community is largely refuting previous attributions that the integration of addictions with primary care was a disaster, and is now clarifying that – while there were early challenges – things are just fine now, thank you very much. So they are quite concerned about losing their advances when addictions get carved back out of somatic care and included in mental health.
The primary care community, led by MedChi, the state medical society, is also backing the integration principles that the MPS has championed. And we are now hearing from some MCOs and hospitals that a fully integrated approach, all rolled into one or several MCOs, is preferred. A hearing before the legislature was to occur last week, but Hurricane Sandy interfered. Public comments are being collected until Nov. 9, and the rescheduled hearing is set for Dec. 18.
I’ll be back before Christmas with Part 3. I am certain that there are at least a couple states going through the same discussions that we are going through. Log in to CLINICAL PSYCHIATRY NEWS and post your comments so we can all learn from one anothers’ experiences.
—Steven Roy Davis, M.D., DFAPA
DR. DAVISS is chair of the department of psychiatry at the University of Maryland’s Baltimore Washington Medical Center, policy wonk for the Maryland Psychiatric Society, chair of the APA Committee on Electronic Health Records, and co-author of Shrink Rap: Three Psychiatrists Explain Their Work, published by Johns Hopkins University Press. In addition to @HITshrink on Twitter, he can be found on the Shrink Rap blog and drdavissATgmailDOTcom.