Institute of Medicine news: Report on mental illnesses and drug ...( ons and administrative practices that ...),Health

Public-private partnerships are now developing an information technology system called the National Health Information Infrastructure (NHII) to make the exchange of health information easier. But so far, these efforts have not adequately dealt with health care for mental and substance-use problems, the report says. HHS and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs should take steps to ensure that NHII will thoroughly address such conditions. Additionally, federal and state governments, purchasers, and foundations should offer clinicians and groups who treat these problems incentives to invest in the information technology needed to fully participate in NHII.

HHS should synthesize and disseminate scientific evidence on effective services for mental and substance-use conditions, the report adds. It also should lead efforts to significantly develop an infrastructure for measuring and improving the quality of mental and substance-use health care. To this end, the department, working with the private sector, should charge and fund a group similar to the National Quality Forum -- a private, nonprofit organization -- to identify and put into practice quality measures in these areas. And HHS should oversee a coordinated research agenda for improving care.

The report -- like the Institute of Medicine's 2001 report CROSSING THE QUALITY CHASM: A NEW HEALTH SYSTEM FOR THE 21ST CENTURY -- envisions a revamped health care system that not only is centered on the needs, preferences, and values of patients, but also encourages teamwork among health care workers and makes much greater use of information technology. Patient-centered care is especially important in the delivery of mental health services and treatments for addictions, the report says, because of the stigma sometimes associated with interventions and greater use of coercion into treatment compared with general heal
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Contact: Vanee Vines
news@nas.edu
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The National Academies
1-Nov-2005