Apr 28, 2015
Patient, Clients, Consumers: Whom do Mental health clinicians treat?

“But if thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought.” ―George Orwell, 1984

Apr 6, 2015
Patients Fear Psychotherapy Costs, But Should They?

For the more than 30 million US adults who do not receive the mental health services they need, 45% cite cost as a barrier to care. Our data show that the idea that psychotherapy is expensive is a myth. We analyzed some of our 2014 data and here’s what we found:

Mar 10, 2015
Underutilization of Psychotherapy: What Providers Can Do

Medication seems to be replacing psychotherapy. Between 1998 and 2007 the percent of people receiving psychotherapy alone declined (by 25%); combined psychotherapy and medication declined (by 17%); and there was a decline in the average number of therapy visits per patient (9.7 to 7.9). By contrast utilization rates for medication alone shot up (from 41 percent to a little more than 57 percent). Overall, there was a 35% decrease in total psychotherapy expenditures.

Feb 19, 2015
Depression Treatment Findings of CarePaths Users and Call to join our National Practice Research Network

Behavioral clinicians around the country are starting to use assessment and outcomes measures. The most commonly used instrument is the PHQ9 which is a self-report measure that rates severity of depression. It is being used for eminently practical reasons: it is quick to take, has sound psychometric properties, and it is a quality measure for ONC Meaningful Use (and NCQA has proposed it to be a HEDIS measure for 2016). Finally, it is clinically useful. The sensitivity/specificity for PHQ9 scores over 10 is 88% which means it is extremely accurate at diagnosing depression. Also, studies show response to treatment in the first month, as reflected in declining PHQ9 scores, predict the likelihood of remission.

Jan 21, 2015
Behavioral Surveillance, Big Data and the Well-Being Revolution: What Could Go Wrong?

Behavioral surveillance is coming to America via the cell phone. Positive psychology and well being are coming to American healthcare via Obamacare which incentivizes the implementation of wellness programs. Together they are dramatically increasing the volume of personal data collected on ordinary citizens and exposing those citizens to targeted messages, incentives and interventions designed to modify the thoughts, feelings and behaviors the surveillers (aka thought police) want to encourage. And, the genius of this system is that the citizens are voluntarily choosing to be surveilled and modified.

EHR

Therapy

Mindfulness

LGBTQ

Addiction

Suicide

Trauma

Online Therapy

Depression

Anxiety

Insomnia

Drug and alcohol abuse

ADHD

Outcomes Monitoring

Patient, Clients, Consumers: Whom do Mental health clinicians treat?

Patients Fear Psychotherapy Costs, But Should They?