The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act signed into law in October 2008 consolidated longstanding efforts at the national and state level to establish parity between the financial health

Application Deadline: May 27, 5 p.m. EDT The National Conference on Health Communication, Marketing, and Media scholarships provide conference registration and accommodations for state and local public health professionals. The scholarship covers full registration for the 2½-day conference and 2 nights lodging at the Omni Hotel. All other expenses are the responsibility of the scholarship recipients. A limited number of scholarships are available for the 2009 conference.  SAMHSA’s goal for co-sponsoring the conference is to increase the visibility and presence of mental health and substance abuse service delivery organizations, providers, and advocates. With your help, support, and participation, we can best leverage the new media environment to address the needs of people with or at risk for substance use and mental disorders.

For the sixth year in a row, AHRQ has produced the National Healthcare Quality Report and the National Healthcare Disparities Report. These reports measure trends in effectiveness of care, patient safety, timeliness of care, patient centeredness, and efficiency of care. The reports present, in chart form, the latest available findings on quality of and access to health care. The National Healthcare Quality Report tracks the health care system through quality measures, such as the percentage of heart attack patients who received recommended care when they reached the hospital or the percentage of children who received recommended vaccinations. The National Healthcare Disparities Report summarizes health care quality and access among various racial, ethnic, and income groups and other priority populations, such as children and older adults

Three genome-wide association studies have identified genetic factors that affect the risk of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Understanding how these genetic variations affect brain development will suggest new strategies for diagnosing and treating ASD.