April 19, 2005

Creation of Institute for Behavioral Health Informatics Announced

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania - The creation of the Institute for Behavioral Health Informatics was announced today by representatives of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and OPEN MINDS. The Institute is dedicated to defining and advancing the application of technologies to improve the delivery and management of behavioral health services. The Institute was founded by a collaborative work group of representatives from the UPMC Behavioral Health Division and OPEN MINDS.

The first activity of the Institute will be to hold an annual conference on the future of technology in behavioral health: the Institute for Behavioral Health Informatics. The Institute will be held November 1-2, 2005 at the Westin Convention Center Hotel, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

"This will be the only meeting of academic researchers, clinical professionals, policymakers, and administrators devoted to defining the future roles of technology in the behavioral health field," said Claudia Roth, president of the Western Psychiatric Institute & Clinic and Vice President for Behavioral Health at the UPMC. "With the growing realization of the implications of behavioral health disorders on overall consumer health and related health costs, a focused effort to deploy technology to improve behavioral health service delivery is critical to a thriving health care system. We believe that the Institute will help to define the need for new technological solutions and to assure that new technological developments created through academic research and privately-funded technology companies are integrated into the planning of policymakers, system managers, and clinical professionals."

The Institute’s annual conference will be focused on eight key areas of technology applications in the behavioral health field:

1. Clinical Information & Decision Support Systems

2. Consumer Health Informatics

3. Technology & Education

4. Ethical, Legal, & Social Issues

5. Technology & Evaluation

6. Knowledge Management & Data Mining

7. Mobile Knowledge Technologies

8. Imaging & Neurometry Technologies

Following the first annual conference, work groups will be formed in each of these key areas with specific meetings and resource tools produced by work group members.

For more information on the Institute for Behavioral Health Informatics, call toll-free 1-877-350-6463 or go to http://www.openminds.com/educ/bht0511.htm.

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