|  The
benefits of information technology have taken hold
all around us, from banks to grocery stores. To
make sure these benefits extend to the health care
arena as well, the Bush administration created
the new Office of the National Coordinator for
Health Information Technology in April 2004 and
called for a nationwide electronic health information
network within the next decade.
This issue of SAMHSA News
highlights some of the most exciting activities
to date in the application of technology to the
treatment of mental and addictive disorders. If
we harness it wisely, technology can increase exponentially
our capacity to reach many underserved populations,
including rural clients, American Indian communities,
youth engaged with the juvenile justice system,
older Americans, and people who abuse prescription
drugs.
Emerging technologies have the potential
to transform the mental health service system,
which is a key goal of SAMHSA's action agenda,
informed by the President's New Freedom Commission
on Mental Health.
At the most fundamental level,
electronic access can benefit both the consumer
and the provider of services. Consumers can access
their own health care records and use them to
help shape their own treatment. Providers can
gain a more complete picture of their patients'
overall health as well as better access to the
latest research-based information.
Technology can also enhance service
delivery by providing data on which treatments
work best. Having access to consistent measures
enables payers to assess quality of care and
eliminate redundancy.
SAMHSA is developing an overall data
strategy to standardize measurement of treatment
outcomes and consolidate data across Agency programs,
and is designing an electronic system for collecting
and reporting substance abuse prevention and treatment
service data from all SAMHSA-funded programs. The
Agency is also examining questions raised by the
new technologies, including issues of privacy,
confidentiality, ethics, standards of care, and
licensure.
SAMHSA is committed to exploring
and refining all strategies that may help us
move from today's health care information system
to tomorrow's, with the goal of building resilience
and facilitating recovery for all people with
or at risk for substance abuse and mental illness. 
Charles G. Curie, M.A., A.C.S.W.
Administrator, SAMHSA |
