Aging brings more than the typical physical problems form seniors.  Most will survive family members and friends, and face other possible losses, causing depression or anxiety.  Some, following a doctor’s orders, may risk harm with prescription drugs without knowing that they are doing so.  Telemedicine, in these cases, seems to be a very compassionate gift from the medical community.

It commonly comes with longer life that family members and friends will pass on. As their generational companion list begins to shrink, depression and loneliness is inevitable.  The regular reminders of their own mortality can also be a source of anxiety.  In these tough financial times they may also lose property through foreclosure, or be swindled by unscrupulous individuals.  

Grief and loss therapy and mental health treatment can help to minimize emotional pain, but the tendency is to decline because they don’t want to leave home or they are immobile.  The pain will not improve without talking about it.  So if they have no one to grieve with, they become more isolated, and sometimes turn to alcohol or drugs for relief.

Prescription drugs are often ordered for seniors to stabilize physical or emotional pain.  Opiate pain killers and benzodiazepines can spell trouble, though, when individuals also use alcohol, take higher doses than prescribed, or use other medications.  Isolation and substance use can feed on each other, leaving a once vibrant person alone and numb.

These are the lesser known forms of alcohol abuse and drug abuse, and can be helped with addiction treatment.  However, it is quite rare for seniors to agree to enter drug treatment for the same reasons as above.  Sadly, younger family members tend to condone substance use to “ease the pain” of aging, and don’t offer proper assistance.  Every day is a risk that tragedy will strike by accident or drug overdose.

Telemedicine has the potential to improve the golden years for many individuals.  They don’t need to leave home to get mental health treatment or drug treatment.  There are specialists in both fields who work with seniors on related issues.  Grief and loss specialists can ease individuals through these processes, minimizing the duration of emotional pain.  Addiction treatment counselors can help them to see that drugs and alcohol add to problems if they are abused, and are never the solution for emotional pain.

Tarzana Treatment Centers in Los Angeles provides online therapy for mental health and drug addiction.  Our online treatment is delivered using the LiveVisit application, powered by MDLiveCare.  One only needs a computer with a webcam connected to the internet to participate.  This makes treatment convenient, accessible, and affordable.  Security is important in treatment, so LiveVisit runs behind several layers of encryption.  Phone access is available for those without a computer.

Telemedicine at Tarzana Treatment Centers is not limited to online mental health treatment and drug addiction treatment.  We also provide online medical care.  Our goal is to see that those who need treatment can get it.

Tarzana Treatment Centers in Los Angeles provides a full array of health care services including adult and youth alcohol and drug treatment.  We specialize in treatment for mental health and substance use disorders, and have two primary medical care clinics in the San Fernando Valley and Antelope Valley.  If you or a loved one needs help with alcohol dependence, drug addiction, or co-occurring mental health disorders, please call us now at 800-996-1051 or contact us here.

Southern California Locations for Alcohol and Drug Treatment
Tarzana Treatment Centers has locations all over Southern California in Los Angeles County. Other than our central location in Tarzana, we have facilities in Lancaster in the Antelope Valley, Long Beach, and in Northridge and Reseda in the San Fernando Valley.

There are several reasons that individuals will delay or decline treatment for drug addiction, both legitimate and illegitimate.  Some want drug treatment and don’t have time, and others are simply resisting the urgings of family members with excuses.  Telemedicine could be the solution for many who want drug treatment for themselves or for loved ones.

The trouble starts with the first use of a drug, whether it is marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine, prescription drugs, or heroin.  Future drug addicts feel a sense of freedom at that time that leads them to further use.  Drug tolerance creates a need for larger doses, more often, to get that first feeling again.  When drug abuse leads to relationship, family, and employment problems, some individuals will seek treatment.  Others will continue use into addiction whether or not they think they need drug treatment.

For those who accept that they need treatment, life factors may inhibit their ability to attend individual and group sessions.  Time, travel, and the stigma of being discovered as a drug addict are the major issues.  The other group who doesn’t want or think they need treatment will make excuses of the same nature, but only to avoid the issue.  

The last couple of days in drug detox can be tense for individuals who want to continue treatment, but see obstacles as mentioned above.  They usually have no sick or vacation time accrued to take time off of work for residential treatment, so they will look into outpatient treatment.  Then family members often object to the time away from home to attend sessions.  After all, it is now time to stop neglecting the family.

Interestingly enough, the debaters on these issues switch sides when a drug addict is resisting drug treatment.  Family members tend to urge them to get intensive residential treatment and take all the time they need.  Employers may mandate drug treatment, and even pay for it depending on the importance of the employee to the company.  

With these time factors in mind, telemedicine is a good solution for the first group and for family members and employers of the second group.  Travel time is eliminated from regular weekly sessions, saving patients and family members several hours each week in many cases.  Sessions can be attended from work or home by video conference, using a computer with a webcam and internet connection.

Tarzana Treatment Centers in Los Angeles provides telemedicine for drug addiction.  Our online drug treatment is delivered using the LiveVisit application, powered by MDLiveCare, over any web browser.  This makes treatment convenient, accessible, and affordable.  Security is important in drug treatment, so LiveVisit runs behind several layers of encryption.

Telemedicine at Tarzana Treatment Centers is not limited to drug addiction treatment.  We also provide online mental health treatment and online medical care.  Our goal is to see that those who need treatment can get it.

Tarzana Treatment Centers in Los Angeles provides a full array of health care services including adult and youth alcohol and drug treatment.  We specialize in treatment for mental health and substance use disorders, and have two primary medical care clinics in the San Fernando Valley and Antelope Valley.  If you or a loved one needs help with alcohol dependence, drug addiction, or co-occurring mental health disorders, please call us now at 800-996-1051 or contact us here.

Southern California Locations for Alcohol and Drug Treatment
Tarzana Treatment Centers has locations all over Southern California in Los Angeles County. Other than our central location in Tarzana, we have facilities in Lancaster in the Antelope Valley, Long Beach, and in Northridge and Reseda in the San Fernando Valley.

Tarzana Treatment Centers in Los Angeles provides telemedicine services to qualified patients in alcohol and drug treatment, mental health treatment, and primary medical care.  After careful research of the technology available, we chose to partner with MDLiveCare in Florida so we could deliver services conveniently and securely at affordable rates.  The technology was a key in making our decision considering what our patients would need in order to use these services.

During our research of available telehealth technologies for video conference sessions, we were happy to discover that most of our services could be delivered through this medium.  Assessments of new patients entering addiction treatment or mental health treatment can be completed before they come to one of our locations.  This allows our staff to better prepare for their arrival, and saves patients critical time in on-site admissions time.  It can also be used for outpatient services for some patients.  We can also see qualified patients in primary medical care from their homes and offices.  

The MDLiveCare technology is browser-based.  This means that patients simply need to open Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, or whatever they use on a daily basis, and log in to their account.  Once logged in, a simple interface makes it easy for them to schedule appointments with Providers, send and read secure messages with them, and view records.  Anyone who browses the internet should be able to use the interfaces we provide, known as MDLiveVisit and TherapyLiveVisit.

Much of the technology used for telehealth video conferencing today would be considered complicated by the everyday computer user.  Some require special software that, putting it simply, directly connects one specific computer with another over long distances.  This adds work for the patient in setting up the software, which may not go well and lead to a need for technical support.  Also, if the program crashes there is no backup means to connect to a session, creating a delay in services.  These are issues that patients do not want to deal with when they need health care.

The MDLiveVisit and TherapyLiveVisit interfaces that are used by Tarzana Treatment Centers require no initial setup on patient computers.  They only need a login ID and temporary password to get started.  Literally within minutes, patients can set an appointment to see one of our health care providers.  And, if the browser they are using happens to crash, they can switch to another to start or resume a session.  All of this simplicity is delivered with the same or better security as those described above.

The LiveVisit application was started using the popular Flash Player to deliver video.  This meant that almost anyone already had the software needed to send and receive video before they used LiveVisit.  To improve services, a switch was made to using the VSee video format in LiveVisit.  The new format uses less bandwidth, meaning that even patients with very slow internet access can send and receive smooth video.  Patients still do not need to install bulky software to use this advanced video format.

We chose to partner with MDLiveCare and use the LiveVisit telehealth applications because the simplicity and security satisfied our high standards in delivering services to patients.  The goal was to make getting treatment easier for patients, with almost no chance that problems will occur.  No special equipment is needed, either, other than an inexpensive webcam since high resolution is not necessary in LiveVisit.

Tarzana Treatment Centers in Los Angeles provides a full array of health care services including adult and youth alcohol and drug treatment.  We specialize in treatment for mental health and substance use disorders, and have two primary medical care clinics in the San Fernando Valley and Antelope Valley.  If you or a loved one needs help with alcohol dependence, drug addiction, or co-occurring mental health disorders, please call us now at 800-996-1051 or contact us here.

Southern California Locations for Alcohol and Drug Treatment
Tarzana Treatment Centers has locations all over Southern California in Los Angeles County. Other than our central location in Tarzana, we have facilities in Lancaster in the Antelope Valley, Long Beach, and in Northridge and Reseda in the San Fernando Valley.

Many individuals suffer needlessly, delaying or declining treatment for mental health disorders.  A good portion of them know that they could benefit from treatment, but have fears or time constraints that prevent them from attending sessions at a treatment center.  Telemedicine may be the solution that will bring them freedom.

We all know that mental health disorders range from mild to severe cases, and all of the sufferers benefit from some form of treatment.  A grieving person may just need someone to help process feelings of loss in a few sessions, and another who suffers from social phobias can be treated with therapy or medication.  But the former may have high job demands that limit time to visit a treatment center, and the latter might not be able to leave the house out of fear.  These are only two examples that prevent those in need of treatment from getting it.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Office of Applied Sciences reported on unmet mental health treatment needs within its 2008 National Survey on Drug Use and Health.  About 10.6 million adults reported unmet needs for treatment.  A little over 30% of them expressed concerns labeled “Did not have time”, “Concerned about confidentiality”, and “Might cause neighbors/community to have negative opinion”.  All of these relate directly or indirectly with travel to a treatment center on a regular basis.

Tarzana Treatment Centers in Los Angeles provides telemedicine to allow this group of individuals to get treatment using video conference with a webcam and computer with internet access.  Those with little time can simply log in to a session from their home or office.  Family, friends, and neighbors will not ask questions about the sudden evening trips, and the chance of being seen at a treatment center is almost eliminated.  The TherapyLiveVisit application we use, powered by MDLiveCare, sits behind several layers of encryption, removing any concerns about security or confidentiality.

We also provide telemedicine services for medical care and addiction treatment.  You may also see these services called telehealth, telemental health, and online treatment.

Tarzana Treatment Centers in Los Angeles provides a full array of health care services including adult and youth alcohol and drug treatment.  We specialize in treatment for mental health and substance use disorders, and have two primary medical care clinics in the San Fernando Valley and Antelope Valley.  If you or a loved one needs help with alcohol dependence, drug addiction, or co-occurring mental health disorders, please call us now at 800-996-1051 or contact us here.

Southern California Locations for Alcohol and Drug Treatment
Tarzana Treatment Centers has locations all over Southern California in Los Angeles County. Other than our central location in Tarzana, we have facilities in Lancaster in the Antelope Valley, Long Beach, and in Northridge and Reseda in the San Fernando Valley.

Individuals from all social and economic levels can suffer from alcohol dependence.  When they know they need treatment, some of them can’t access it either because they don’t have time or worry about the social stigma of being an alcoholic.  Recovery may be the only thing that saves their family, job, or finances, though, so they should consider telemedicine as an option.

The homeless people you see on the street are only the public face of alcoholism.  One may work in the office or cubicle next to you, or even live in your own home.  It is estimated that over 1 in 10 Americans suffer today.  No matter who they are, at some time, hopefully, they realize that they need alcohol treatment.  Sadly, many will postpone or decline this addiction treatment for several reasons.

Entering alcohol treatment is still wrongly stigmatized as a weakness for a large segment of society.  Individuals in positions of authority and possibly well known, in business and politics, very often place public status over their own health, and think they will be okay without treatment.  But for every one individual who seems to be “living a party” and still making a living in the news, there are thousands who will lose everything.  

Successful alcohol treatment does require a time commitment from patients and their loved ones.  The patient needs to attend individual and group sessions to work through life issues that will prevent relapse.  Family and friends need to also attend groups to work on themselves as well as to provide support for the patient.  The resistance is not so much about attending the sessions, but more about the travel time and coordination of schedules that makes people nervous.  When one knows they need treatment, they should get it.

Tarzana Treatment Centers in Los Angeles provides telemedicine for individuals who have these reasons, and many others, to not seek alcohol treatment.  Sessions are conducted by video conference over the browser-based TherapyLiveVisit application, powered by MDLiveCare.  Participants in telemedicine only need a computer with a webcam and internet connection.  All sessions are secure and confidential, running behind several layers of encryption.

These individuals who need help with alcohol abuse or dependence can now get it before problems mount too high.  Eliminating regular trips to an alcohol treatment center solves the stigma and time issues.  There is no need to explain sudden regular “nights out” to those who may pry, and all sessions can be conducted at home or work.  Travel time is eliminated, along with the hassle of loading the family in a car.  Also, distant family members can participate in family sessions, which is a great benefit.

Telemedicine at Tarzana Treatment Centers is not limited to addiction treatment.  We also provide online mental health treatment and online medical care.  Our goal is to see that those who need treatment can get it.

Tarzana Treatment Centers in Los Angeles provides a full array of health care services including adult and youth alcohol and drug treatment.  We specialize in treatment for mental health and substance use disorders, and have two primary medical care clinics in the San Fernando Valley and Antelope Valley.  If you or a loved one needs help with alcohol dependence, drug addiction, or co-occurring mental health disorders, please call us now at 800-996-1051 or contact us here.

Southern California Locations for Alcohol and Drug Treatment
Tarzana Treatment Centers has locations all over Southern California in Los Angeles County. Other than our central location in Tarzana, we have facilities in Lancaster in the Antelope Valley, Long Beach, and in Northridge and Reseda in the San Fernando Valley.

Heroin addiction imprisons its victims in a world that seems inescapable, even after successful heroin detox treatment.  Opiate cravings lead them to believe they can have “just a little” heroin since the body is cleansed.  For many, outpatient heroin treatment helps them to avoid relapse by dealing with life issues.  And for those who have work and family obligations, there is the option of online drug treatment via telemedicine.

Medical detoxification cleanses the body of alcohol and drugs, and is only the beginning of successful treatment.  So the physical battle with heroin addiction may be over, but heroin cravings and psycho-social factors remain.  The addicted brain sends a multitude of signals to the body, telling it that it either needs heroin to survive or that it won’t hurt to use a small amount.  The signal offers a sense of relief from all the obsessive thoughts in the addict’s mind.  Relapse is often the result.

Heroin treatment helps to ease the mental obsession for the drug, and get past the cravings.  Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) may also help with opiate cravings.  Residential treatment is very effective, and outpatient treatment works in many cases as well.  Some individuals, though, may have time or travel hindrances that make it difficult to attend outpatient sessions regularly.  For them, telemedicine is a welcomed solution.

As an example, a young male husband and parent is on his final two days of opiate detox.  He desperately wants to change his life and enter treatment.  He feels a need to get a job and support the family he had neglected, and declines residential treatment.  While he is willing to enter outpatient treatment, he can’t afford the travel costs and worries that it will interfere with a new job.  Without another option, he is likely to attempt recovery without treatment and is sure to relapse.

Tarzana Treatment Centers in Los Angeles offers telemedicine as another heroin treatment option.  Our friend could attend regular individual and group sessions by video conference using a webcam and computer with internet access.  Our TherapyLiveVisit application, powered by MDLiveCare, provides patients with a secure connection to our addiction treatment providers at affordable rates.  We are also able to offer phone consultations for those without video conferencing equipment.

Telemedicine at Tarzana Treatment Centers is not limited to addiction treatment.  We also provide online mental health treatment and online medical care.  Our goal is to see that those who need treatment can get it.

Tarzana Treatment Centers in Los Angeles provides a full array of health care services including adult and youth alcohol and drug treatment.  We specialize in treatment for mental health and substance use disorders, and have two primary medical care clinics in the San Fernando Valley and Antelope Valley.  If you or a loved one needs help with alcohol dependence, drug addiction, or co-occurring mental health disorders, please call us now at 800-996-1051 or contact us here.

Southern California Locations for Alcohol and Drug Treatment
Tarzana Treatment Centers has locations all over Southern California in Los Angeles County. Other than our central location in Tarzana, we have facilities in Lancaster in the Antelope Valley, Long Beach, and in Northridge and Reseda in the San Fernando Valley.

The California Telehealth Network (CTN) was launched by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on August 17, 2010.  CTN will operate on both public and private funding, and is expected to lead California into an exciting new era in health care.  Tarzana Treatment Centers is pleased to announce our involvement.  We are thrilled at the opportunity to provide our addiction treatment, mental health treatment, and medical care to individuals in California who find it difficult to travel to facilities.

CTN is expected to connect 900 health care facilities by 2011, providing specialized health care services to California residents who normally can’t access them.  Rural health care providers will have access to specialists who can either assist them or work with their patients directly.  Currently, there are 50 sites that are being set up initially to begin this important project, which will have its control center at the UC Davis Medical Center.

Tarzana Treatment Centers, based in Los Angeles, California, is providing services at 3 of these initial sites.  Our specialized services will be a valuable part of CTN, making addiction treatment, HIV/AIDS services, and related mental health disorder treatment available along with the common services we also provide.  Many individuals suffer needlessly because they are immobile or live in remote rural areas.

The funding for CTN is $30 million, which includes $21 million from the Federal Communications Commission, $3.6 million from the California Emerging Technology Fund, and the rest from a combination of private and other public funds.  AT&T will build a secure, medical-grade telecommunications system that will provide the high bandwidth needed.  The goal is to reduce medical costs and improve clinical outcomes for patients.

Telehealth, also known as telemedicine, is online mental health treatment or medical care that can be conducted by video conference or by phone.  Online health care has become secure and affordable.  The cost-effectiveness makes for a lower cost to set up the program than to continue with the status quo in health care.  Its use has proven to reduce readmission rates for patients in medical care, and is expected to do the same for those in behavioral and mental health treatment.

Of course patient security is an obsession for the staff at Tarzana Treatment Centers.  So we would not have started working with telemedicine if there was even a hint that patient confidentiality could be compromised.  Our internal telehealth system, powered by MDLiveCare, is protected by several layers of encryption.  While details have not yet been released by CTN about the security this network will provide, we can assure you that our involvement will result in the high security.

Tarzana Treatment Centers in Los Angeles provides adult and youth alcohol and drug treatment.  We specialize in treatment for mental health and substance use disorders, and have two primary medical care clinics in the San Fernando Valley and Antelope Valley.  If you or a loved one needs help with alcohol dependence, drug addiction, or co-occurring mental health disorders, please call us now at 800-996-1051 or contact us here.

Southern California Locations for Alcohol and Drug Treatment
Tarzana Treatment Centers has locations all over Southern California in Los Angeles County. Other than our central location in Tarzana, we have facilities in Lancaster in the Antelope Valley, Long Beach, and in Northridge and Reseda in the San Fernando Valley.

It’s difficult enough raising adolescent children, and then you discover the reason for their recent behavior issues is due to alcohol abuse or drug abuse.  You cringe at the thought of admitting them to alcohol and drug treatment because, beyond the shock you feel, it seems like yet another burden to tackle.  But it is important, and you know it, and telemedicine may be the solution for your hesitation.

Adolescent alcohol abuse and drug abuse can tear the closest families apart.  It starts with failing grades, behavior problems, and new friends who give parents that “bad feeling”.  A gradual increase of difficult situations explodes when parents discover substance abuse among their youth, and exhaustion generally follows.  So many parents will just want to give up.  Adolescent alcohol and drug treatment seems beyond the breaking point.

Although it is logical to make an attempt at solving a problem, procrastination takes over for most parents of substance abusers due to stigma.  “What will the extended family/friends/neighbors think?”  When they get past that hindering feeling and call an alcohol and drug treatment center, they learn about the time and emotion involved and put it off again.  All the while, their teens are going further down a road toward alcoholism or drug addiction, crime, injury, and possibly death.  Time is of the essence.

Tarzana Treatment Centers in Los Angeles offers telemedicine as an answer to both the stigma and time issues.  Teens can attend counseling sessions via video conference from home, using a computer with a webcam.  Parents can attend family meetings in the same manner.  We even have the technology to conduct group sessions over a secured internet connection.  This cuts the time and cost of travel to our locations, and saves you the need to explain the daily family trips to others.

Our providers use the TherapyLiveVisit application, powered by MDLiveCare, which works in any web browser.  If you have a computer with internet access and a webcam, you can use Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, Chrome, or any other browser to access the application.  LiveVisit operates behind several layers of encryption, so you can be certain that your consultations will be completely confidential.  

The term “telemedicine” encompasses all forms of health care including mental health treatment and addiction treatment.  In many cases of youth alcohol abuse and drug abuse, there are co-occurring mental health disorders that had gone previously undetected.  Tarzana Treatment Centers is recognized as a leader in providing mental health treatment to adolescents.  Our telemedicine staff includes addiction counselors and mental health professionals, as well as medical professionals.

Tarzana Treatment Centers in Los Angeles provides a full array of health care services including adult and youth alcohol and drug treatment.  We specialize in treatment for mental health and substance use disorders, and have two primary medical care clinics in the San Fernando Valley and Antelope Valley.  If you or a loved one needs help with alcohol dependence, drug addiction, or co-occurring mental health disorders, please call us now at 800-996-1051 or contact us here.

Southern California Locations for Alcohol and Drug Treatment
Tarzana Treatment Centers has locations all over Southern California in Los Angeles County. Other than our central location in Tarzana, we have facilities in Lancaster in the Antelope Valley, Long Beach, and in Northridge and Reseda in the San Fernando Valley.