BitsnBytes-Winter2024-2025

Bits & bytes Winter 2024-2025 3 New Jersey Association of Mental Health and Addiction Agencies, Inc . 3635 Quakerbridge Road, Suite 35 Mercerville, NJ 08619 Tel: 609-838-5488 Fax: 609-838-5489 njamhaa@njamhaa.org www.njamhaa.org Copyright © 2024 New Jersey Association of Mental Health and Addiction Agencies, Inc. Reproduction in any manner, except as authorized by the Copyright Act of 1976, is prohibited. All rights reserved. Board Chair..... Anthony Comerford, PhD Editor & Publisher.....Debra L. Wentz, PhD Editor in Chief .......................Steve Hirsch Editor ................................ Shauna Moses Writers....................................Steve Hirsch ................................................Ron Gordon .......................................... Farrah Fabrigas Graphic Designer. .......... Farrah Fabrigas STAFF CONTRIBUTORS N e w J e r s e y A s s o c i a t i o n o f M e n t a l H e a l t h a n d A d d i c t i o n A g e n c i e s , I n c . IT Project Your guide to tomorrow N J A M H A A started on the Unified Services Transaction Form and Midas). Or having to search through documents you thought you completed, but are being told that there are items missing. Or needing to leave a document in order to find information you can only find in another area of the chart. These are just a few of the items that I know made work more difficult for me, as I found myself treating the charts instead of the consumers. Now, as NJAMHAA’s Vice President of IT, Human Resources, and Administrative Services, I can look for solutions that address these headache-inducing occurrences. This is a nice segue into AI as it can assist with decreasing the workload on staff, and allows them to spend more time with the consumers. In the short time I have been with NJAMHAA, I have researched several AI solutions that seem to address the concerns I mention above. But, AI really is only meant to be an assistive device, rather than a replacement for people (and let’s not bring up Skynet here - we’ll save that discussion for another time). While it is nice to have a laundry list of ideas to choose from, we still need to be able to communicate our clinical judgment to others through documenting accurately and descriptively. One of the criticisms of AI in behavioral health care has been that it comes up with outlandish notes that have nothing to do with what was discussed in sessions. This may be a little exaggerated, but it still is imperative that once the AI notes are created, that the clinicians review them for accuracy. Even though having to review the AI created documents may decrease the overall time saved, it will still save time by preventing clinicians from formulating erroneous treatment plans, and thereby helping to maintain and even increase quality of care and positive outcomes. That’s all for now. More on AI in the future!!! Steve Hirsch Steve Hirsch, LSW, MSW, MBA Vice President, IT, HR and Administrative Services IT Project Help Desk ITHelpDesk@NJAMHAA.org 609-838-6064 (Continued from page 2)