BitsnBytes-Winter2024-2025

Bits & bytes Winter 2024-2025 2 From the Desk of Steve Hirsch Hi Everyone, As this is my first issue of Bits & Bytes , I thought I would first introduce myself, and then write about a popular topic nowadays - artificial intelligence (and I assure you that I am not using AI to write this). I come from many years working on the clinical side of behavioral health, having worked as a psychiatric screener for more than 25 years, the program evaluator for a Certified Clinical Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) expansion grant, and most recently, as the Director of Social Services at Trenton Psychiatric Hospital. In addition, I was the grant manager for the State Targeted Opioid Response Initiative (STORI) for the Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services (now called the State Opioid Response, or SOR). My undergraduate degree was in psychology, and I have an MBA and an MSW (with the corresponding LSW license). At this point, you are probably asking, “So, how does this all that background fit in with technology and the IT Project?” Well, other than knowing how far behind the times behavioral health care is in terms of the level of sophistication of technology used, I also left the behavioral health field back in the late 90s for a few years and supported the network and the users for News Digital Media (NDM), the company that developed all the web content for Fox Television, Fox Sports, and Fox News. While with NDM, I assisted in the planning and building of a new office, including creating the network infrastructure from the ground up and supporting more than 100 people. For all you Jack Bauer and “24” fans out there, the office we built was used in the filming of the first three episodes of the series. Since returning to behavioral health, I have been searching for a way in which to merge the two fields in order to better serve the vulnerable populations of New Jersey. Too often, I have seen staff overwhelmed by the need to document the same thing in numerous places (and don’t even get me Continued on page 3 “ Bits & Bytes , the IT Project’s newsletter, is an excellent resource which provides useful, relevant and up to the minute information. It’s an exceptional newsletter, and just what CEOs and executive team members need to stay on top of cybersecurity and trends in the behavioral health field. ” Regina Widdows, MA President & CEO, SERV Behavioral Health System, Inc. and NJAMHAA Board Member