In a 3,100-word piece, USA Today (3/3, Szabo) reports that the “Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, forbids” healthcare professionals “from disclosing a patient’s medical information without consent.” Because many practitioners “don’t understand what HIPAA actually allows them to say,” they “often shut families out, even in circumstances in which they’re legally allowed to share information, says Ron Manderscheid, executive director of the National Association of County Behavioral Health and Developmental Disability Directors.” Former child psychologist Rep. Tim Murphy (R-PA) “wants to change the law itself, creating a special exception to the privacy rule in cases in which the health of people with serious mental illness would suffer if their families aren’t involved in their care.” The American Psychiatric Association has endorsed Murphy’s bill, HR 2646.

Related Links:

— “Mental illness: Families cut out of care,” Liz Szabo, USA Today, February 26, 2016.

In the US News & World Report (3/1) “Policy Dose” blog, psychiatrist Lloyd Sederer, MD, chief medical officer of the New York State Office of Mental Health, writes, “An estimated 8.4 million people in the US care for a loved one with a mental illness.” The National Alliance for Caregiving just issued a report called “On Pins and Needles: Caregivers of Adults With Mental Illness.” Although “the report did not monetize the value of these caregivers’ service, even a low estimate, say $20,000 per year, multiplies to $168 billion annually in caregiver service value, not including financial support and the incalculable other resources and benefits provided (like a place to live and food to eat).” Put another way, “not only are these caregivers at the heart of our service system for people with chronic mental disorders, they may be its greatest source of financial subsidy.”

Related Links:

— “Take Care of Caregivers,” Lloyd Sederer, US News & World Report, March 1, 2016.

Modern Healthcare (3/1, Dickson, Subscription Publication) reports that CMS data indicate Medicaid and CHIP enrollees “are not getting the behavioral and medical care they need.” While the Affordable Care Act “requires the HHS secretary to establish healthcare quality measurement programs for adults and children to obtain standardized data across state Medicaid and CHIP programs,” the ACA “established it as a voluntary reporting program,” so the data are not indicative of all states.

Related Links:

— “Medicaid and CHIP participants not getting behavioral health, chronic-care services,” Virgil Dickson , Modern Healthcare, March 1, 2016.

HealthDay (3/1, Reinberg) reports, “Elderly Americans whose arteries are clear of calcium buildup appear less likely than others to suffer from heart disease or dementia,” research published online Feb. 29 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology suggests. After examining “data on more than 500 people who took part in a cardiovascular health-cognition (heart health and mental health) study” who were followed “from 1998 through 2013,” investigators found “those without calcium buildup in their arteries developed dementia later than those with high levels of calcium.”

Related Links:

— “Healthier Arteries May Lower Dementia Risk in Old Age,” Steven Reinberg, HealthDay, March 1, 2016.

USA Today (2/29, O’Donnell) reports that on Monday, Federal health officials unveiled a deal which “should make digital health records easier for consumers and regulators to access and address safety issues linked with the data.” Almost all companies which “provide digital health records and 16 of the largest hospitals and health systems agreed to stop the practice of ‘information blocking,’ to adopt a universal language and to improve the systems so patients can easily monitor their health information.”

Commenting on the deal, HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell stated, “It’s great to have an electronic record, but if that record can’t be easily accessed by doctors and patients because of clunky technology, then we aren’t consistently seeing the benefit.” She added that some 75 percent of physicians and almost all hospitals now use “EHRs, which means ‘there is now a digital care footprint for almost everyone in this country.’”

Related Links:

— “Health companies will improve digital records, but safety concerns linger,” Jayne O’Donnell, USA Today, February 29, 2016.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (3/1, Johnson) “Pulse” blog reports that a study published in the Journals of Gerontology: Biological Sciences & Medical Sciences found that “higher education, positive wellbeing, overall good health and higher physical functioning all contribute to women maintaining good memory health after age 80.”

Since 1991, researchers followed over 2,200 older women and found that “factors that influence cognitive function in women over 80 include: age, income, education level, race, diabetes and depressive symptoms.” The study “is part of the Women’s Health Initiative and WHI Memory Study launched by the National Institutes of Health.”

Related Links:

— “MCW researcher finds predictors of good cognitive health in older women,” Mark Johnson, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, February 29, 2016.

On the front of its Business Day section, the New York Times (2/26, B1, Lieber, Subscription Publication) reported on the side effect of a recommendation “that all pregnant women and new mothers be screened for depression,” namely that women found to have postpartum depression may end up paying higher rates for “life and disability insurance” or have difficulty even getting such insurance. The concern among insurers is “the odds of you killing yourself,” or “the likelihood you will not be able to work,” depending on what type of insurance is involved.

Related Links:

— “An Insurance Penalty From Postpartum Depression,” Ron Lieber, New York Times, February 26, 2016.

HealthDay (2/28, Preidt) reported, “Half the teens seen” at the Hasbro Children’s Hospital emergency department in Providence, RI, “reported being victims of violence or cyberbullying, and a quarter reported symptoms akin to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD),” the findings of a 350-patient study published online Dec. 18 in the journal General Hospital Psychiatry suggest. The study revealed a “strong” association “between PTSD symptoms and being subjected to cyberbullying or violence, exposure to community violence, and” substance use.

Related Links:

— “Cyberbullying, Violence Linked to PTSD in Teens,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, February 26, 2016.

In continuing coverage, the New York Times (2/25, Rabin) “Well” blog reports that a study published online Feb. 18 in the American Journal of Public Health suggests that the rate of overdose deaths from benzodiazepines quadrupled between 1996 and 2013, while the number of benzodiazepines prescribed in the US tripled over that time period.

Related Links:

— “More Overdose Deaths from Anxiety Drugs,” Roni Caryn Rabin, New York Times, February 25, 2016.

HealthDay (2/25, Preidt) reports, “The many behavioral problems experienced by children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders require early attention,” a review published online Feb. 23 in Pediatrics suggests. After “analyzing published studies,” researchers “identified three main types of behavioral problems among” such children, including “‘internalizing’ behaviors such as anxiety, withdrawal and depression; ‘externalizing’ behaviors such as aggression and delinquency; and other issues such as problems with social skills, attention and thought processing.” Because such behaviors “impair social interactions, academic performance and mental health,” researchers called for “strategies for early intervention.”

Related Links:

— “Study Details Dire Consequences of Fetal Alcohol Disorders,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, February 25, 2016.