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Well, the
Congress and the President finally came through with
healthcare reform! But, will we still need a public option?
. .. Yes! We need it to
reduce
private insurers' profits
even further!
Among Medicare beneficiaries, the number with diabetes is
expected to rise from 8.2 million to 14.6 million in 2034,
with an accompanying rise in spending from $45 billion to
$171 billion. . . As a result, by 2034,
half of all direct spending in diabetes care is projected to
occur in the Medicare population.
President Obama's proposed "public option,"
would guarantee needy patients fully accredited care just like here, at Rye Hospital Center,
where such care
is already almost 100 percent federal- and
state-funded by Medicare and Medicaid. But because the American middle class is
still denied proper healthcare by
"managed care" (see below),
while
"Medicare Advantage" (to the big insurance
companies) was turned over to the private
insurance industry by the last administration, what is needed
now is private health insurance reform
to stop them from fixing prices and excluding the middle
class from proper treatment.
The discredited managed-care private insurance industry has become a "market failure,"
creating another insurance cartel like in the 1940s.
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Note:
If you are visiting this website because
of the need of hospitalization for yourself, a relative, or
a friend, look at all sections and "links," so that you will
have the fullest information. Psychiatric hospitalization is
a serious matter, and requires the utmost information in the
search to help those in need.
If your need is urgent:
See
Our Medical Staff
(click here) |
At Rye Hospital:
The suburban setting on a small private
estate in Westchester County provides a quiet, comfortable environment
where — through close interaction with staff and other patients
— patients can be helped, and can help themselves, toward recovery.
Rye Hospital Center remains as the only fully accredited
inpatient psychiatric facility on the Long Island Sound Shore
between Connecticut and New York City.
Enhancing the Patient's Experience:
The Rye Hospital Center's mission is to
empower persons with disorders--physical and emotional--to function
at an optimum level and to better adapt to the daily demands
of society.
The Center's
patient population consists of males and females, in early adolescence
through geriatrics, whose primary diagnosis is psychiatric,
although "dual focus" treatment for co-morbid medical disorders
is available.
Patients are treated for depression, anxiety
and stress, which accompany chronic benign pain such as migraines
or other headaches and persistent medical illnesses like coronary
disease and eating disorders.
Issues we address range from substance
abuse and prescribed medication overuse to physical and mental
handicaps.
The hospital has no intimidating locked
doors. Nobody wears a uniform.
The program and its setting enhances
outdoor activities –– sports, gardening and recreational therapy.
Patients have ready access to the hospital’s own spa, the City
of Rye’s swimming pool, library and “Y.” This extends the therapeutic
environment to the outside community, helps eradicate stigma,
and enhances the patient’s hospital experience.
Psychotherapeutic sessions are supplemented
with occupational, recreational, art, writing workshop and physical
activities (a sauna and hot tub complete the picture).
* * *
Rye's Population Changes
With the Times.
Rye has adapted its population to regularly reflect societal
needs. Since its inception in 1971, the Hospital has accepted
patients of all ages, and integrated them into its Therapeutic
Milieu.
Accepted over decades of surveys by state and federal
regulators, Rye's philosophy of treatment has led the way for
successful transition for patients back to their communities.
(See "Transition-Age Youth Services" [opposite column].)
Associate
Supreme Court Justice Breyer says:
"The opinion of a responsible treating
physician in determining the appropriate conditions for treatment
ought to be given the greatest of deference."(click
here
& see):
OLMSTEAD V. L. C.
Worried about "managed care?"
See:
How
Do
MCO's
Decide
Whether
Medical
Care
Is
Necessary?
(use:
Adobe Reader)
°
Latest
Articles:
°
For Doctors
°
For Patients
See New
Video:
From Commonwealth
Fund
Also See:
Scenes from our feature
film.©
click on picture
Please allow time to upload scenes
depending on the speed of your hardware.
Metabolic Syndrome:
Adults/Youth and "Second-Generation"
anti-psychotic medications.
Serotonin Syndrome
Also New Important Link:
Drug Interactions and AIDS . . .
Welcome to MedWatch,
your Internet gateway for timely safety information on drugs
and other medical products regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration.
See the latest:
FDA
Approves Risperdal for Two Psychiatric Conditions in Children
and
Adolescents.
Latest FDA
Warning on antidepressants.
Late News!
FDA focuses on "Off-Label" use of
medication:
Revealed in the latest FDA/ Johnson
and Johnson warning about dangerous
cardiotoxic effects of the
neuroleptic tranquilizer Haldol, is
the acknowledgement of its use,
"off-label," when injected
intravenously.
This marks an important moment in
psychoactive-drug protection of the
public by the government, since
"off-label" uses of medication have
long been subtly promoted by
pharmaceutical companies to medical
professionals to stimulate sales,
when not backed by properly
conducted and approved safety
research.
The FDA September 2007 warning
stated: "Although injectable
haloperidol is only approved by the
FDA for intramuscular injection,
there is considerable evidence that
the intravenous administration of
haloperidol is a relatively common
off-label clinical practice."
"Jonathan's
Law"
(Chapter 24 of the Laws of 2007-NY)
was signed into law on May 5, 2007.
The new law makes changes in the way
certain notifications are made and
information is shared, regarding
incidents involving the health and
safety of patients, as well as
allegations of abuse in mental
hygiene facilities.
To see
official pamphlet:
* * *
Most
recent
"unannounced survey" results by the
federal Center for Medicare and
Medicaid Services (CMS),
3/07/07: They said:. . . it is not
the medical record, the staff or the
plant--it is the treatment of the
patient that shows through. . .World-class
treatment!" 
How does the
federal Center for Medicare and
Medicaid Services Survey Psychiatric
Hospitals?
Latest Joint Commission
Accreditation Decision (based on an
unannounced survey:
"Full Standards Compliance."
02/10/2007.
New York's
Commission on
Quality of Care & Office of Mental
Health Evaluates Private Psychiatric
Hospitals (from the most recent
report of its kind)
.
. . and from the Office of the
Surgeon General (the first-ever and
still only-) comprehensive report on
mental health in the U.S. . .
Center
for
Disease
Control/JCAHO
Infection Control Link
(see
"Infection Control Guidelines)
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Quick
Links
What's New
(click)
Obama Aministration issues new mental
health coverage rules:
The
New York
Times (1/30, A14,
Pear) reported the Obama
Administration "issued
new rules...that
promise to improve insurance
coverage of mental healthcare for
more than 140 million people insured
through their jobs." Under the rules
that go into effect July 1,
"employers and group health plans
cannot provide less coverage for
mental healthcare than for the
treatment of physical conditions
like cancer and heart disease."
The
AP
(1/30) reported that the new rules
prohibit "separate annual
deductibles for mental health
treatment" and higher "copayments
for visiting a psychiatrist or
social worker." The measure "also
prohibits health plans from setting
limits on number of visits or
hospital days for mental health
problems that are different from any
such limitations on treatment for
medical problems."
Modern
Healthcare (1/29,
Zigmond) reported, "The rule applies
to group plans of 50 or more people
and divides benefits into the
following six categories: inpatient,
in-network; inpatient,
out-of-network; outpatient,
in-network; outpatient,
out-of-network; emergency care; and
prescription drugs."
CQ
HealthBeat (1/30,
Norman) also covered the story.
Also: Rye Hospital Center defeats
commercial, profit-based
Medicare Managed Care!
In
a recent significant decision, one
which may help end waste and abuse
of Medicare beneficiary funds, Rye
Hospital Center has won a victory
over the Bush Administration's
abject deferential
giveaway to the big commercial
insurance companies: the "managing"
of healthcare for seniors (to save
on "costs"), Rye has just won 100
percent of its appeals to the
federal Administrative Law Judge on
its first nine cases denied by
National Government Services (a
wholly owned subsidiary of the
mammoth WellPoint Insurance
Company).
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A task force created by forty-nine
out of 50 state attorneys general
finds that Internet child predation
"is not a significant problem" as
popularly thought by some (including
the NY State Office of Mental
Health). Moreover, the Harvard-based
report concludes that
"bullying
among children, both online and
offline, poses a far more serious
challenge than the sexual
solicitation by adults."
(N.Y. Times
1/14/09).
"Integrated
Care"
says U.S.
Supreme Court. The federal
government defines:
Mentoring for
Transition-Age Youth and Young
Adults With Disabilities:
"Youth
or young adults with [physical or
mental] disabilities
means individuals with
disabilities who are between the
ages of 16 and 26.":
34 CFR § 373.4
[(Authority:
29 U.S.C. 711(c) and 723(a)). Thus,
while for purposes of "abuse" a
"child" must be under 18, for
purposes of help, rehabilitation or
medical assistance
(Medicaid), a "child" is defined as
under the age of 22. (42 USC §
1396a)].
*
* *
LATEST FOR RYE FROM THE JOINT
COMMISSION:
We did it again! FULL Three-Year
Accreditation, 11/09.
"In
preparation for the submission of
its application to the Centers for
Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
for continued hospital deeming
authority, . . . Joint Commission
accredited hospitals are already
meeting the spirit of many of these
revised requirements."
* * *
Prolongation of the QT interval (on
the EKG) is a risk factor for sudden
death. Selective serotonin-reuptake
inhibitor antidepressants can
prolong the QT interval and are
widely used by pregnant women. The
aim of this study was to determine
the effect of maternal use of
selective serotonin-reuptake
inhibitor antidepressants during
pregnancy on the QTc interval of the
offspring.
* * *
EDUCATION OF YOUTH AT RYE HOSPITAL
CENTER
The
Westfield
Day
School is a community based
therapeutic school "dedicated
to helping students overcome
personal obstacles and academic
difficulties by designing individual
programs for success."
Rye
Hospital Center is proud to add to
our inpatient programs the special
skills of WDS, so that we can
maintain a seamless transition for
young patients
that is
focused on improving the academic
and functional achievement of youth
with disabilities and to facilitate
their movement from hospital
back to community and school life.
* * *
Rye Hospital Center receives
another recertification!
. . .
In 2009, the New York State
Office of Mental Health affirmed to
Rye Hospital Center its more-than
38th year of certification to admit
patients in need. This follows the
federal government and The Joint
Commission's findings of Rye's
competence as a fully accredited
mental-healthcare provider hospital.
Latest Joint
Commission Warning on Pediatric
Medications . . .
WHERE DANGER
LURKS:
With the latest bad news of
"atypical-antipsychotic" drug use in
children, see the chart of
Cytochrome P 450 Drug Interactions:
* * *
Moitri
Datta,MD
 --Rye's
Director of
Transition-Age
Youth Services
(click)
*
* *
NEW LINKS TO TRANSITION AGE SERVICES
POLICY:
EDUCATION OF YOUTH AT RYE HOSPITAL
CENTER:
20 USC § 1401
(34) Transition services: The term
“transition services” means a
coordinated set of activities for a
child with a disability that—
(A) is designed
to be within a results-oriented
process, that is focused on
improving the academic and
functional achievement of the child
with a disability to facilitate the
child’s movement from school to
post-school activities, including
post-secondary education, vocational
education, integrated employment
(including supported employment),
continuing and adult education,
adult services, independent living,
or community participation;
(B) is based on the individual
child’s needs, taking into account
the child’s strengths, preferences,
and interests; and
(C) includes
instruction, related services,
community experiences, the
development of employment and other
post-school adult living objectives,
and, when appropriate, acquisition
of daily living skills and
functional vocational evaluation.
Public Health Advisory
- FDA -
Combined Use of 5-Hydroxytryptamine
Receptor Agonists (Triptans),
Selective Serotonin Reuptake
Inhibitors (SSRIs) or Selective
Serotonin/Norepinephrine Reuptake
Inhibitors (SNRIs) May Result in
Life-threatening Serotonin Syndrome
SSRIs and
Treatment Challenges of Depression
in Pregnancy
. . .
SSRI-SNRI Side
Effects(link)
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