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Assesses the impact of mental health managed care plans under the Medicaid program on expenditures, access and relative of mental health services in Massachusetts after a one year period of its implementation. Reduction of expenditures by 22% below predicted values without managed care; Readmission rates; Applicability of program to high-risk populations.

The article discusses the mission and the challenges of American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM). According to the article, ASAM has two objectives. The first one is to integrate the treatment of addictive diseases into the mainstream of health care, and second is to integrate the current knowledge of addictions and their treatment into the education and seek the recognition of the specialty of addiction medicine. Details on ASAM's response to the managed care challenges are discussed in the article.

Presents the Executive Vice President's Speech during the Annual Awards Dinner of the 1997 Annual Medical-Scientific Conference, San Diego, California, as published in the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) News. Review of society's accomplishments for 1997; Integration of addiction medicine treatment into the health care system; Definition of the practice of addiction medicine.

Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest occurs frequently among people of all ages, including more than 6000 children annually. Pediatric cardiac arrest in the out-of-hospital setting is a stressful event for family, friends, caregivers, classmates, school personnel, and witnesses. Immediate bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation and the use of automated external defibrillators are associated with improved survival in adults. There is some evidence in which improved survival in children who receive immediate bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation is shown. Pediatricians, in their role as advocates to improve the health of all children, are uniquely positioned to strongly encourage the training of children, parents, caregivers, school personnel, and the lay public in the provision of basic life support, including pediatric basic life support, as well as the appropriate use of automated external defibrillators., Competing Interests: POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST: The authors have indicated they have no potential conflicts of interest to disclose., (Copyright © 2018 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.)

Background: This study examined symptom reports and neurocognitive outcomes in children (8-17 years) with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) or orthopaedic injury (OI)., Method: Children and parents were initially assessed upon presentation in the Emergency Department of a local hospital and again at 3 months. Children completed the Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing battery (ImPACT) and parents completed the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF). The Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, 3rd edition (PPVT-III) was completed by the children at the 3-month assessment., Results: Children with mTBI reported more symptoms than the OI group initially, but did not differ from the OI group at 3 months. Both groups reported a higher than expected number of symptoms at 3 months. On the ImPACT, children with mTBI performed significantly worse than the OI on a visual memory test at both assessments. The OI group had higher levels of parent-reported executive dysfunction on the BRIEF at initial and 3-month assessments., Discussion: As expected, more post-concussion symptoms were initially reported by children and adolescents with mTBI vs orthopaedic injury, but there was no difference at 3 months. The BRIEF and ImPACT cognitive measures did not differentiate concussed subjects from controls, with the exception of concussed subjects' lower performance on a visual memory test at both initial assessment and at 3 months.