Elizabeth Bromley, M.D., Ph.D. (University of California, Los Angeles) joins Dr. Dixon and Dr. Berezin to discuss the use of outpatient conservatorship in the effort to address mental health disability among unsheltered homeless persons in Los Angeles County, California. 00:00    Introduction 03:04     Homelessness in Los Angeles County, California 09:04     The paper and services 11:39     Lanterman-Petris-Short (LPS) conservatorship 13:44     Outpatient conservatorship (OPC) pilot program 15:54&nb ..read more

Gregory E. Simon, M.D., M.P.H. (Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute, Seattle) join Dr. Dixon and Dr. Berezin to discuss the use of machine learning models to analyze electronic health records to predict antidepressant treatment response. 00:00     Introduction 02:31    Focus on practical research 04:55    Population studied 05:57    Predicting outcomes 07:20    Using diagnostic codes, not personalized notes 08:04    What three data items might be more helpful? 08:49    What key indicators are we missi ..read more

Misty C. Richards, M.D., M.S. (University of California, Los Angeles), and Nicole Kozloff, M.D. (University of Toronto), join Dr. Dixon and Dr. Berezin to discuss the need to remodel our systems and provision of mental health services for children and adolescents. 00:00     Introduction 01:18     Impetus 05:45     What constitutes a mental health crisis? 11:14     “Remodeling” 16:21     Differences by location 18:28     Remodeling primary care 21:25     Virtua ..read more

Andrew D. Carlo, M.D., M.P.H. (Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago) joins Dr. Dixon and Dr. Berezin to discuss the insurance acceptance rates of psychiatric practitioners compared with other medical disciplines. 00:00     Introduction 01:04     Background and Motivation 02:46     Data Set and Methodology 05:12     Restricted Data Set and Privacy Concerns 06:08     Research Questions and Goals 10:04     Findings: Insurance Acceptance Rates 11:29     Factors Influenc ..read more

Eliza Hallett, M.S., (Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon) joins Dr. Dixon and Dr. Berezin to discuss the challenges faced by staff and behavioral health service providers, including low wages, traumatic work environments, low wages, and physical and administrative infrastructure. Workforce crisis in behavioral health care [01:33] How representative of the country is Oregon? [03:45] Who were you talking to? [05:32] A figure on radio [06:30] Generating a theoretical framework from the responses [08:01] Qualitative methods [09:30] The five factors [10:33] Wages [14:05 ..read more

Henry Chung, M.D., (Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York City) joins Dr. Dixon and Dr. Berezin to discuss the differences between the collaborative care model and the colocation model, and the impact on Medicaid costs and utilization, for the treatment of patients with depression. Chung interview [00:58] A bridge between clinical and research work [02:32] The colocation model and the collaborative care model [03:44] What populations are you working with? [07:21] Differences in service utilization and cost [10:25] Methodology [10:47] Concentration on depression instead of other ..read more

Joseph Parks, M.D., joins Dr. Dixon and Dr. Berezin to discuss guidelines for clinicians on how to deal with the increased prevalence of drugs adulterated with fentanyl and similar potent fentanyl analogs. MDI publications can be found here. Parks interview [00:53] The National Council for Mental Wellbeing [01:21] Guidelines [03:50] Contemplation [05:02] A back-to-basics approach [07:13] Fentanyl test strips and harm reduction [08:37] Spillover [10:06] Issues with fentanyl [12:05] Incremental behavioral changes [13:44] Things people should know about fentanyl [16:29] Training for professional ..read more

Eric P. Slade, Ph.D., joins Dr. Dixon and Dr. Berezin to discuss the complex and often confusing world of dual eligibility for Medicare and Medicaid coverage when it comes to mental health services, in particular Dual Eligible Special Needs Plans (D-SNPs), a type of Medicare Advantage plan designed around those eligible for both programs.   Slade interview [00:59] Medicare and Medicaid [02:24] Eligibility for each, and both [06:36] Dual eligibility [08:09] Who pays for care? [09:51] Managed care [11:13] Trade offs between traditional insurance and HMO plans [15:47] Medicare Advantage [18 ..read more

Lauren Southwick, M.P.H., and Sharath Guntuku, Ph.D., join Dr. Dixon and Dr. Berzin to discuss whether using a digital dashboard maintained by patients to track social media and other digital data usage had an impact on mental health therapy outcomes. •    Southwick and Guntuku interview [01:37] •    What led you to this study design? [03:06] •    What did you think this would look like in a therapy setting? [08:00] •    Amount of data patients contributed varied widely [09:39] •    The dashboard [10:12] •    What were the effects of ..read more

Breanna C. Keepers, M.D., M.B.A., and Ish P. Bhalla, M.D., M.S., join Dr. Dixon and Dr. Berezin to discuss the results of a survey of mental healthcare providers and their usage of measurement-based care.  Dr. Keepers is in the Department of Psychiatry at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, and Dr. Bhalla is Medical Director of Behavioral Health Value Transformation at Blue Cross-Blue Shield of North Carolina. •    Keepers and Bhalla interview [00:50] •    Incentivizing provider behavior changes [03:01] •    Measurement instruments [05:30] •    Measurem ..read more