Bring Change 2 Mind is a new organization that is helping to dispel the misconceptions of living with a mental illness. Their website has a lot of great information on the facts and fictions of different behavioral health conditions, and also has some great videos with personal stories.

Attention all Behavioral health providers and advocates, please take the time to weigh in on the CCHIT Behavioral health certification criteria. This will be important for the future of behavioral health Health IT implementations. To provide comments: go here ->

CHICAGO – The first public comment period for the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology’s 2011 development cycle is open through Dec. 11.

The CCHIT will accept comments on the first draft of criteria for behavioral health electronic health records – both stand-alone and as an optional add-on to comprehensive ambulatory EHR certification – as well as add-on certifications for clinical research and dermatology.  See More ->

This is the start of how mobile devices and the connected patient will begin to revolutionize the health system. This is the type of innovation that we need to help improve care.

But will it ask you to turn your head to one side as well?

Software being developed by American and Australian scientists will hopefully allow patients simply to cough into their phone, and it will tell them whether they have cold, flu, pneumonia or other respiratory diseases. Whether a cough is dry or wet, or “productive” or “non-productive” (referring to the presence of mucus on the lungs), can give a doctor information about what is causing that cough, for example whether it is caused by a bacterial or a viral infection. See More ->

New Mexico Lt. Gov. Diane Denish Touts Google Apps in Cost-Saving Plan

New Mexico Lt. Gov. Diane Denish’s plan to save the state millions of dollars contains an interesting nugget about IT: Her suggestion that “switching the state from current systems to Google Apps could generate as much as $1.9 million in recurring savings.” Read More ->

By implementing systems like Google Apps, government and non-profit agencies can save a lot of money over traditional systems like Microsoft Exchange and Lotus.

Watch to see how Afia can help you!

Afia has two upcoming presentations that we are doing over the next week on how information technology can be used to improve both clinical and administrative aspects of your organization.

The first presentation will be at the Impact System of Care Conference on Friday, October 30th and will talk about how you can use outcome data to both track and encourage a youth’s progress toward improved functioning across life’s domains.  Go to this link for more information:  Impact System of Care Conference.

Then, on Tuesday, November 3rd Afia will be conducting a webinar with the National Council on how to move forward with critical HIT initiatives to improve productivity and service quality even as you grapple with tough budget constraints.  To sign up for the webinar go to:  Health IT:  Doing More With Less.

The National Council for Community Behavioral Health (www.thenationalcouncil.org) has signed a contract with Afia to provide technical support in developing an IT Strategy for the Integrated Health division of the National Council (http://www.thenationalcouncil.org/cs/new_at_the_resource_center), and to provide technical support for the Phase IV Primary Care-Mental Health Collaborative Care Project. Afia will be supporting Phase IV members with how to use technology to track data an integrate information between Primary Care and Behavioral Health. Afia will use its expertise in workflow analysis and EHR vendor selection to support what tools and techniques will work best.

The age of personal health management is upon us. This is only the start of a new revolution is health monitoring and health delivery where the patient becomes a central partner in treatment and delivery of care.

Remember when the iPod made your music collection mobile, letting you access and sort your library from anywhere? Boston Scientific is on track to do the same thing with patient medical data, via an upcoming iPhone app. “It’s all about capturing those micromoments in the day–when a surgeon is waiting for the OR to be prepped for the next implant but can’t sit down at a computer, when a patient’s family member calls at 6 a.m. with a question but the office isn’t opened yet,” says Joseph Weber, Director of R+D for Boston Scientific’s Latitude application. “Mobility brings so many compelling values to the system.”  Read More ->

CBS News’ 10-minute video gives a short but comprehensive look at the issues and the realities of electronic medical records It includes a personal horror story by Dennis Quaid on a medical mistake that almost cost the lives of his then 12-day-old twins, and how simple bar-coding of medications and use of scanners can prevent that from happening. The video covers the benefits, costs, privacy concerns and other issues related to converting to electronic medical records with real-life examples from Kaiser Permanente. David Pogue – New York Times tech columnist and GTC keynote speaker — moderates.

Watch CBS News Videos Online