Suicide prevention resources and new videos from SAMHSA

SAMHSA

SAMHSA released new videos and other resources to help prevent suicide and offer support to those in crisis. Suicide can touch anyone, anywhere, and at any time. But there is hope. Find resources to help prevent suicide at https://www.samhsa.gov/suicide.

SAMHSA’s 2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health

SAMHSA

SAMHSA has released the latest data findings from the 2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). NSDUH provides estimates of the use of illegal substances, prescription drugs, alcohol, and tobacco, as well as mental disorders, treatment, and co-occurring substance use and mental disorders in the United States. NSDUH data also help to identify […]

Five things I learned writing about opioid addiction

A photo of Brian Simpson is on a wall at his parents’ home. He died of an overdose.(KEITH BEDFORD/GLOBE STAFF/FILE)

Printed by permission of the Boston Globe By Felice J. Freyer Globe Staff, July 29, 2019 For more than a year, the Globe has been examining the opioid crisis in Massachusetts, searching to understand why so many are dying and, especially, what can be done about it. The result was a nine-part series that ended […]

PCSS Launches Core Curriculum on Substance Use Disorder 101 for Healthcare Professionals

Close up Stethoscope. Doctor working in hospital

PCSS has developed a 22-module core curriculum designed to educate healthcare professionals on the prevention, assessment and treatment of substance use disorders (SUD) throughout the continuum of care. The modules explore such topics as screening, stigma, motivational interviewing, alcohol, tobacco, and opioid use disorders to name a few. The course provides a comprehensive introduction and […]

Treating Opioid Use Disorder

SAMHSA

By: Elinore F. McCance-Katz, MD, PhD, Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use I write this today not to provide a listing of programs that my agency has funded nor an update on how we are doing in addressing the opioid crisis. I write this as a physician seeking the help of my fellow […]

Virginia Health Center Becomes Model for OUD Treatment

Paul Brasler, LCSW, Behavioral Health Services Coordinator at the Daily Planet, photo courtesy of Julia Rendleman

Daily Planet Health Services, with two healthcare clinics in Richmond, Virginia, embraced the concept of using medications to treat opioid use disorder, but needed guidance from a PCSS implementation and clinical specialists to make it a reality. This federally qualified health center (FQHC) provides care for predominately vulnerable populations, including the homeless and persons without […]

Report Gives Blueprint for Operating Successful OUD Treatment

NACHC

The National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC), working with PCSS, launched a pilot study on how to best address intake, billing and coding procedures in community healthcare centers, critical aspects in positive patient outcomes. Shellie Sulzberger, LPN, CPC, ICDCT-CM and Patrick Sulzberger, CPA, CHC, of Coding & Compliance Initiatives Inc. and Gervean Williams, Director […]

CDC Issues Report on Overdose Deaths

CDC - NCHS - National Center for Health Statistics

The report identifies the specific drugs involved most frequently in drug overdose deaths in the United States from 2011 through 2016. Read Report