PRESS RELEASE 

Riverbend Receives Impact Award

for Excellence in Health Care Technology:

Health Buddy Project Recognized for its Impact to Improve the Lives of Those Living with Mental Illness and Addiction Disorders

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Concord, NH -- Riverbend’s Health Buddy Project has been named a 2013 Program of Significance by the National Council for Behavioral Health.

Honorees reflect the most innovative and inspirational work happening in behavioral healthcare organizations across the country.

“Riverbend has pioneered the use of the Health Buddy electronic device in behavioral health care, and the Award recognizes our efforts to advance the quality of services provided to adults living with mental illness,” said Louis Josephson PhD, Riverbend’s President & CEO. “We have created a replicable model that has significant long-term implications for effectively managing the cost and quality of care.”

The "Health Buddy" is an electronic unit that provides two-way communication between healthcare providers and persons with serious mental illnesses (SMI).  Adults with SMI have high rates of co-morbid chronic health conditions such as diabetes and chronic lung or heart disease, and they experience a staggering 25-30 year reduced life expectancy compared to the general population representing the greatest health disparity in the nation.

The results of a study of 70 people, conducted in partnership with Dartmouth Psychiatric Center, found that there were significant reductions in urgent care and primary care visits and significantly fewer visits to emergency rooms for mental health care than those not using the unit.  In addition, the participants made fewer unscheduled visits to their primary care doctors.

“We have been pleased to support Riverbend in this innovative project,” said Kim Firth, Program Director at the Endowment for Health.  “Health Buddy and telemedicine initiatives like this are vitally important to providing the best quality care for adults with mental illness and doing so in a cost-effective way.”

Significant funding for the project was provided by Concord Trust’s Community Services Fund, Health Hero Network, Robert Bosch Healthcare, McKesson Information Systems and the Endowment for Health.

The National Council for Behavioral Health is the nation's leading mental health and addiction organization representing 2,000 organizations across the US that serve some of the most vulnerable  adults and children with mental illness and addiction disorders.

Learn more about Health Buddy.

As the days grow longer and 2013 is underway in earnest, and in keeping with our Valentine’s Day theme, here are a few of the things that I am thankful for as I look back over 2012…and a few more things I am looking forward to in the year ahead!

I am thankful for our robust year-end giving and for all the people, businesses, organizations and foundations who support us financially throughout the year… because their gifts add to the depth and quality of our programs and services;

I am proud that Riverbend was named 2012 non-profit of the year by the Greater Concord Chamber of Commerce because this reflects on the quality of our staff and their commitment to excellence, demonstrated every day;

I am grateful for Mike Green’s leadership at Concord Hospital and his unwavering commitment to the behavioral health needs of our community…never more important than now as our patients wait for days in the emergency room for the help they need and deserve (read more in last Sunday’s Concord Monitor)

I find hope that in the wake of the unfathomable Newton, CT tragedy, people are talking about the underfunded needs of the community mental health system and are recognizing the incomparable mental health work that goes on in our local schools, every day;

I find heart in the stories that I hear from our consumers as they face the challenges of living with a chronic mental illness or cope with the fallout from a psychiatric crisis;

And I applaud the efforts of our outstanding volunteer board of directors as they help steer Riverbend on a course to address the mental health needs of the community.  We welcomed Shelia Johnson, RN and Concord Police Chief John Duval to the Board in the fall and wished Lucy Hodder a fond farewell as she left to assume her new duties as the Governor’s legal counsel.

As 2013 unfolds, I anticipate that the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid expansion will help more people find the evidence-based treatment that works for them;

I look forward to Governor Hassan’s leadership in helping the State respond to the needs of those who depend on the public safety net;

I know the move toward Medicaid Managed Care will bring many challenges and opportunities to work with Commissioner Toumpas and his team to demonstrate the value of our State’s community mental health system;

I am excited about the expansion of Riverbend Counseling Associates into additional primary care practices because most of us depend on the advice of our primary care providers;

I am motivated in working with Granite Health Care Network and Concord Hospital to expand the integration of mental and physical health care for better outcomes for our high need patients;

And I am eager to celebrate River bend’s 50 years of service to the community and all the people past, present (and future!) who play a role in bringing our caring compassionate community the mental health care they need and deserve.

On October 10, 2012, Riverbend Community Mental Health presented Rainbow Awards to four Champions for Mental Health: Concord Police Chief John Duval; Concord Hospital CEO Michael Green and Derek and Ruth Owen of Hopkinton.

Chief Duval serves as the liaison between the Concord police force and Riverbend; Michael Green has expanded access to mental health services throughout the region; and the Owens' farm is an incubator for an innovative vocational program.

Louis Josephson, Riverbend’s CEO, joined five of his colleagues from across the nation for a congressional staff briefing about the integration of a primary care health capacity into community mental health centers. Riverbend has been ahead of the curve in implementing creative and effective programs to address this issue in New Hampshire (see Health Buddy and The Capital Region Pediatric Psychiatry Project as examples of recent initiatives), which triggered the invitation for Josephson to speak.

The event, held on July 16, highlighted the Primary Care Behavioral Health Integrations Grants (PBCHI) funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) as well as the SAMHSA-HRSA Center for Integrated Health Solutions.

Josephson shared some of the preliminary research findings of the Health Buddy pilot project — a collaboration between Riverbend, Dartmouth Medical School, and Dartmouth Center for Health and Aging.

Health Buddy is an electronic unit that was developed to provide two-way communication between healthcare providers and patients. It was designed to help people manage their physical and mental health on a daily basis, identify potential risks before they become serious, and work as a team with healthcare providers. The system consists of an in-home device designed by Health Hero Network, Inc and a library of questions and medical information developed by McKesson, Inc.

The Health Buddy pilot project at Riverbend involved a population of individuals living with Severe and Persistant Mental Illness as well as a serious medical condition. Sixty seven percent of the study population was living with Diabetes.

Some highlight results of the study included in Josphson’s presentation to Congress:

• Clients with serious mental illness can be engaged relatively easily to use daily monitoring device (paranoia or fear of the device in a very small number of clients)

•  Compliance rates are high. Clients anthropomorphize the Health Buddy unit (feel less isolated and more supported by clinical team)

• Positive effects on health measures, symptoms, self-efficacy and illness knowledge

• Most clients welcome help with learning to better self-manage illness