Training Series On Starting A Practice In
Nursing Homes
A four-part series of interactive, online classes is now offered by Concept Healthcare to give mental health professionals and pre-licensure individuals the essential tools, knowledge, and marketing assistance necessary to establish an independent practice in nursing homes.  All training is conducted online, so you can conveniently participate from home or office, with a phone and an internet connection.  The weekly sessions cover four broad topics:  aging issues (physical changes, psychological themes in treatment, cultural and diversity issues), understanding and working in nursing homes, clinical assessment and treatment approaches, and essentials on Medicare, documentation, and reimbursement.  Ten hours of CE credit is given.  Class size is limited to ten.

This is a complete, turnkey package.  The entire Certificate program includes the interactive training, class agenda and handouts (with contracts, documentation templates and samples, assessment and testing materials, guidance on Medicare enrollment, CPT code descriptions, practice building activities, etc.), audio recordings of each class, four staff inservice modules, plus follow-up conference calls and prn consultation with our Clinical Advisory Board.  Upon completing the series, letters of introduction will be sent on request to prospective facilities, attesting to the expertise developed from this training. 

The next class begins on Friday, June 5, and runs through the four Fridays of the month, from 7:00 to 9:30am, PDT. 

Please contact our office for a course description, and schedule at 858-272-3992, or email at info@cohealth.org or by clicking the register button below.

Upcoming Web Conference
Judging Amy Part 2: Evaluating Decision-making Fitness In The Cognitively Impaired Older Adult

Wednesday, June 10, 2009, 7:00am to 9:00am

One of the most stressful events of family life is confronting the question of a parent’s, sibling’s,  or spouse’s ability to make sound decisions.  By accepting a referral to assess decision-making abilities, you can provide essential answers to the person being assessed as well as to those who are close to them.  You can also assist the court in its task.  This 2-hour webinar focuses on assessing, evaluating, and making judgments about the capacities of cognitively impaired older adults.  It covers the nuts and bolts of capacity evaluations, including the process of engagement with the patient, differential diagnosis, and the cognitive, emotional, and functional tests commonly used in effective evaluations.

This webinar has been designed to assist psychologists who wish to expand their practice by doing competency evaluations.  Regardless of your specialty, this webinar can provide you with added tools to ply your trade in a more competent and enlightened way. 

The Presenter: George Kraus, PhD is a clinical and consulting psychologist in private practice with Layh and Associates in Yellow Springs, Ohio, and specializes in the care of older adults.  He is on the graduate faculty at Wright State University where he teaches Geriatric Clinical Psychology and is board certified in clinical psychology.  In 2006, Dr. Kraus published, At Wit's End:  Plain Talk on Alzheimer's for Families and Clinicians, and his new book, A View from the Cosmic Mirror:  Reflections of the Self in Everyday Life will soon be released by Mindfulness Press.  To learn more about Dr. Kraus and his practice, visit him at www.GeorgeKrausPhD.com.

Learning Objectives for this Web Conference:

1. Webinar participants will learn the variety of conditions leading to decisional incapacity.
   
2. Participants will learn standardized approaches in determining decision-making abilities.
   
3. Webinar participants will learn about the utility of test instruments commonly used in
   assessing cognitive, emotional, and functional impairments in the older adult.
   
4. Participants will learn how to better translate their findings into a form that the judicial
   system needs and appreciates.

Upcoming Web Conference
Understanding Medical Necessity And Documenting Mental Health Services

Estimated Date:  Late June, 2009

On an upcoming web conference in June, there will be an in-depth presentation on how to operationalize “medical necessity” when charting, how to meet the needs of different reader audiences, and how to write up assessments, psychological test reports, and treatment notes that meet Medicare criteria.  This presentation will include examples of strong and weak documentation, and samples of documentation outlines that ensure full compliance with Medicare policy.  Good documentation should be second nature, so your primary focus can be patient care. 

The Presenter:  Following years of interfacing with Medicare reviewers and auditors, and in running a Quality Management Dept. for Medicare policy and procedures,  Brenda Billimoria, LCSW, has become an expert in mental health documentation, and in providing constructive, relevant, and valuable feedback for practitioners.  (with CE credit)

Other Resources Of Interest

A new Doctoral Program in Behavioral Health has been established at Arizona State University, funded by Dr. Nicholas Cummings.  The development of this innovative program is built on the consensus that health care reform proposals will lead to evidence-based, brief therapy interventions in primary care settings., and that many primary care patients have untreated behavioral conditions that lead to increased medical costs as patients visit their PCP, are referred to specialists, and other tests when effective, brief behavioral treatment can instead resolve many of these complaints.  This training program will prepare practitioners with the clinical, medical, and business skills necessary to meet the growing demands in the health care marketplace.  Learn more about this program at http://sls.asu.edu/dbh/

The Council of Professional Geropsychology Training Programs (CoPGTP, silent 1st p) is a new organization of graduate, internship, postdoctoral, and post-licensure training programs that provide geropsychology training consistent with the Pikes Peak Model for Training for Professional Geropsychology, held in Colorado Springs in 2006.  This organization is committed to the promotion and support of quality geropsychology training programs.  The CoPGTP website  has a current listing of seminars and conferences, and related training programs.   See http://www.uccs.edu/~cpgtp/

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a new resource available called The Community Guide to help consumers choose programs and policies to improve health and prevent disease.   Evidence-based program data has been compiled  to determine which program and policy interventions have been proven effective, what effective interventions cost, and what is the likely return on investment.  More than 200 interventions have been reviewed and the CDC Task Force on Community Preventive Services has issued recommendations for their use. You can learn more about the Guide, the systematic review methods, and different ways (e.g., education, funding, research, etc.) that the Guide may be used.  Visit http://www.thecommunityguide.org/index.html.   

The National Institutes of Health website, NIH Senior Health, features health and wellness information for older adults.  The website, http://nihseniorhealth.gov/, has a new booklet available,  Medicare Basics for Caregivers, and a range of educational topics on acute and chronic illnesses, and health and wellness information.

The Copper Ridge Institute announces the launch of a new online Dementia Risk Assessment. www.alzcast.org/memorysurvey/.  The assessment offers education and guidance to two groups, persons who question whether or not they are suffering from the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias, and to family and friends of these individuals. The person will be guided through a series of questions online related to medical and family history and current functional impairments. The assessment does not provide a diagnosis, but rather provides appropriate education and advice on next steps.  The Copper Ridge Institute encourages that this link is shared with others.