The Quality of Behavioral Healthcare

Please disseminate throughout your organization! Time is Running Out! Don't miss out on your chance to present your work to a nationwide audience of professionals like you in a warm, beautiful beach environment. The deadline for submissions is 5PM EST on Monday, December 7, 2009. Call for Abstracts The gaps between research, practice and policy, in all configurations, significantly impair the rapidity of progress for improving health care quality. Given the tremendous disease burdens associated with drug abuse, problem alcohol and mental health conditions, and the impact of these conditions on other medical disorders, greater research focus is needed to align consumer preferences and values in care, improved care coordination across providers and service sectors, implementation strategies and workforce development to accelerate the adoption of evidence-based practices, and approaches highlighting how purchasers and employers might encourage delivery of high-quality behavioral healthcare. This scientific conference will encourage linkages between these often separate areas of behavioral services research into a more integrative behavioral health services research (BHSR) platform. This second year of a 3-year NIDA R13 scientific conference grant (with additional support provided by NIMH and NIAAA), continues the effort to 1) develop a collaborative and strategic research agenda to improve the quality of behavioral healthcare to people (across the life span) who suffer from drug abuse, problematic alcohol use, and mental health problems, and, 2) engage and partner researchers and other key stakeholders such as afflicted individuals, families, providers, policymakers, and communities to contribute to and implement a quality improvement agenda. A 'virtual collaboratory' will also be used to connect conference participants and to encourage and support the development of new research teams. Currently there is no one place for addictions, mental health and alcohol services researchers to meet exclusively and at one time on shared priority topics germane to behavioral health services research (BHSR). No professional group or association for BHSR exists. Common problems abound and often work does not cross the disciplines, so this 2010 scientific conference will highlight innovative strategies to improve the quality of behavioral healthcare focusing on a broad range of research examining issues of access to care and care coordination, the implementation of evidence-based practices, improvements in the measurement of quality outcomes, and, financing methods and systems change focused on improving care quality. The conference will be held on Clearwater Beach (FL) on April 13-14, 2010, with preconference methods workshops taking place on the afternoon of April 12th. The Sandpearl Resort (www.sandpearl.com) will be the setting for this year's meeting. Individual paper, poster, think tank and symposia abstracts are being solicited. Please consider submitting an abstract to the conference through our website athttp://bhsr.fmhi.usf.edu All abstract submissions must be received by December 7, 2009 at 5pm EST. Visit us at http://bhsr.fmhi.usf.edu Confirmed Pre-Conference Workshops: John Skvoretz, PhD, Department of Sociology, University of South Florida Nothing But Net(works): Basic Methods Hendricks Brown, PhD, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine Designing the Next Stage of Effectiveness and Implementation Research to Meet the Needs of Communities and Institutions Confirmed Plenary Presenters: Carolyn M. Clancy, MD, Director, AHRQ, DHHS Wilson Compton, MD, Director, DESPR, NIDA Invited Plenary Presenters: Richard Frank, PhD, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Assistant Secretary for Planning & Evaluation, DHHS Mark Willenbring, MD, Director, Division of Treatment and Recovery Research, NIAAA Redonna Chandler, PhD, Branch Chief, NIDA Services Research Branch David Chambers, PhD, Branch Chief, NIMH Division of Services and Intervention Research Sincerely, Alex Harris, Ph.D. Scientific Conference Co-Chair, Center for Health Care Evaluation, VA Palo Alto Health Care System Enola Proctor, Ph.D. Scientific Conference Co-Chair, School of Social Work, Washington University Junius Gonzales, M.D., M.B.A. University of South Florida, R13 Principal Investigator