CHANGE HEALTH TODAY

This is a feel-good-meets-informational story by NPR's Lauren Silverman about the use of service animals. Patriot PAWS is a nonprofit in Rockwall, Texas that provides service dogs. This particular company has been training dogs to help military veterans with PTSD (posttraumatic stress disorder) and other mental health concerns. The article states, "the Department of Veterans Affairs won't help pay for service dogs for PTSD, citing a lack of scientific evidence. But it's launc

When you have a person in the interview say, "I feel like it's better just to die," then Houston, we have a problem. This was from an article by Abby Goodnough published by The New York Times yesterday. It's an interesting read and I encourage you to make it. Here are Just a couple things from my perspective. How is it easier to have a slew of metrics to calculate what you're making and what percentage of what could exempt you than to have a provider with a set fee schedule t

Here's yet another opportunity to see just how ridiculous our health system is. This was an article written by Jake Harper, published a couple days ago. Quick summary: a private company uses its money to make a new medication. They get it through a government process to sell to the public. They charge whatever amount they want, which is within their right. The main buyers (insurance companies, Medicaid managed care companies, and the government) then have to figure out how mu

This was an story written by Phil Prazan addressing the ruling by U.S. District Judge Janis Jack that Texas is doing a terrible job of helping foster kids. Not to be a complete jerk, but I'd go one step further and say that what we Texans do to our foster kids is criminal because we knowingly set them up for failure. We're not simply negligent; we've known for a really long time how to help foster kids be successful. Here's a short list (from a psychiatrist's perspective): St

This is an article written by Julie Appleby on NPR. In the world of health insurance companies, there are lots of ways to ensnare providers while squeezing every bit of profit out of consumers as possible. The whole idea of "HMO" and "PPO" falls right in line with this. Interestingly enough, now that people are "forced" to buy insurance, and the government tells the insurance companies that they cannot deny enrolling everyone that asks due to preexisting conditions, the insur

"So how are you different from all the other universal health care movements?" This was the question posed by my colleague and friend as we researched the dozens of companies and groups who have proposed health care reform plans. Here's a list of how P.S.Y.C.H. is different: 1. Nationwide reach I fully believe that even if a state managed to pull off a universal access system, it would ultimately fail because it's surrounded by states without it. America has this interesting

"Can I get a copy of my disability report?" This was from a veteran. My response: no, you can't. At some point – maybe after the public shaming by folks like Jon Stewart – the government decided to allow veterans who were underserved by the Veterans Administration (VA) to see providers in their local areas. The setup goes something like this: The VA gives a wad of cash to a private business that sets up a streamlined process to get records to private medical providers. The pr

This article was posted by Joanne Silberner on NPR today. Finally, someone presents a story of what really happens in the mental health field on a daily basis. The Henry Ford Health System's suicide prevention program is a lofty goal, and I'm super excited that they are sticking to meeting that goal. After all, trying is not failure. The psychiatrist in the story, Dr. Doree Ann Espiritu, did a fantastic job of just stating what we know, how we practice medicine in less than i

"If you cause the cost of drugs to plummet, pharma won't spend money on R&D, right?" This was a question from another anonymous post, but at least they were friendly this time. Before I answer this question fully (since I think I've alluded to it in other blog posts), I want you to take a step back and ask yourself a question: Why do drug companies make drugs? The first and feel-good answer is because they want to help people. I think this is the case for bench research. Havi

The joys of the internet are balanced with the negatives of the internet, including the ability to be anonymous (yay for dissenting opinions, boo for trolls). "So what makes you an expert?" was a question by someone who had pointed criticism of the P.S.Y.C.H. plan. So let me be clear: I'm not an expert on "health care reform." I was board certified to be a psychiatrist by some folks who thought I did well enough on a test and a mock 30-minute interview. I was licensed by the