Anyone who's ever shopped for a new EHR system has encountered sales reps who've bragged that their software was “user-friendly.” From a sales standpoint, it sure sounds good, but is it truly user-friendly? And is it more user-friendly than other EHR systems? It helps to know what to look for.

How much is a child’s antisocial behavior the result of their home environment? Does it matter if that environment is nurturing or abusive, warm or forbidding, supportive or oppressive? Does any of that matter more than genetics? The answer used to be no, but new studies are changing that view.

When it comes to suicide rates in healthcare, the focus has long been on physicians, and that concern is well-founded. The wellbeing of nurses, however, has long been an afterthought, despite emerging statistics that now reveal such disregard for what it's been - a gross oversight.

Since 2014, Mental Health America has screened an average of about 50,000 to 100,000 people per month for mental health issues. But as COVID-19 pandemic escalated throughout 2020, so too did the number of people getting screened - to more than 400,000 monthly. Coincidence? Probably not.

Consider this: COVID-19 has increased anxiety and depression in millions of Americans. Millions of those Americans want to relieve that anxiety and depression by exercising. But they don't exercise because anxious and depressed people are typically too anxious and depressed to exercise. 

For many American soldiers, the after-effects of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can linger on throughout their lifetime, but it’s worse for some than others. How much worse? That, in part, can be determined by how much alcohol they consume in order to cope, according to a recent Veterans Affairs study.

Years ago, I pulled up in front of a high school to pick up my daughter. Waiting in line behind the other cars, I noticed dozens of teens waiting for rides – most of them looking at their phones, and hardly any talking with each other. The early stages of social media addiction, I suspect now.

Think about this: 15,000 men diagnosed with mental illness are sent to prison. They share roughly the same personality traits as another 15,000 prisoners who have no mental illness. From which group are more inmates more likely to end up in solitary confinement - and for long periods of time? 

Under the 21st Century Cures Act, providers will be prohibited from interfering with the access, exchange or use of electronic health information. A response to information-blocking tactics, these provisions come many questions from mental health providers. They'll need answers by April 5.