Feinstein Institute to train clinicians on how to better care for patients with schizophrenia

The Zucker Hillside Hospital campus of the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research has been approved for a $9.3+ million federal grant to train clinicians on how to better care for patients with schizophrenia.

The three-year grant from the US Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) was awarded to John Kane, M.D., the head of the Feinstein Institute's Center for Psychiatric Neuroscience. Dr. Kane and his team will utilize the funds to educate nurse practitioners, physician assistants, physicians, and case managers on new mental health protocols and health technology resources aimed at delivering more-effective treatments to people suffering from schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia is a chronic, severe and disabling brain disorder that affects approximately 2.2 million Americans. Symptoms usually develop in men in their late teens and early twenties and in women slightly later. In rare cases, schizophrenia can be diagnosed in childhood.

Dr. Kane's program will test the use of care managers, physicians and nurse practitioners trained to use new technology as part of the treatment regime for patients recently discharged from the hospital at community treatment centers in nine states including New York. These trained providers will educate patients and their caregivers about pharmacologic management, web-based psycho-education for patients and families, web-based cognitive behavior therapy, and web-based/home-based monitoring tools for their conditions. Cell phone/smart phone applications will be utilized for interactive messaging programs to prompt medication adherence, facilitate coping with hallucinations, and improve social support. New technologies to better monitor adherence will also be employed. The desired goals of this program are to improve patients' clinical outcomes, quality of life and treatment satisfaction while lowering health care costs by reducing hospitalizations.

"I am grateful to CMS for providing support to the Feinstein Institute so that we can continue to research new ways to better treat schizophrenia," said Dr. Kane. "Schizophrenia is a costly and debilitating disorder. The total economic impact of this illness in the US is $75 billion per year, and it is the third leading cause of disability for ages 15 to 44. Having the ability to offer patients with schizophrenia and their families more successful treatment would have great impact not only on many individuals, but also our economy."

CMS will provide a funding amount of more than $9.3 million to support this project, entitled "Using care managers and technology to improve the care of patients with schizophrenia."